3 July 2009

Skippy slaughter to turn-off tourists?

| johnboy
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The Canberra Times brings word of plans by the National Kangaroo Protection Coalition to organise a boycott of tourism to Canberra in response to recent ‘roo culls.

    “We’ve been talking about it the last couple of days and we think it’s one of the options we’ve got and probably the strongest option we’ve got to get the ACT Government to stop killing these kangaroos,” Mr O’Brien said.

    He said he believed the Canberra culls were based on unproven science and were motivated by an ACT Government ”hatred with kangaroos”.

It seems unlikely to us here in the bunker that endemic kangaroo hatred is driving policy.

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or Backgammon or even snakes and ladders.

The Bush Capital moniker is crap. Especailly with draughts

Ozhair said :

Wonderful how their care factor reduced in proportion to the collapse of their “facts”

Stole the words from my mouth.

I used to be a Canberra local. I’m now in rural Victoria. Why is that important to you?

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy5:15 pm 08 Jul 09

No-one’s talking about eradicating them completely, just trimming the numbers back to manageable. If cars, shooter, bushfires and barbed wire fences really killed as many as you say, we wouldn’t need to take this step now would we…?

Downunder – are you a Canberra local, or from further afield?

Or busy perhaps? I’ve just driven 200k to look for a roo crippled by a driver and left to die. Time I could have spent looking after my 12 orphaned EG joeys. I am told that ACT shelters are forbidden to raise them – all orphaned babies must be put down. I don’t think your assessment of a reducing carefactor is appropriate – we do this sort of stuff because we do care. And we pay for it all too.
I believe that Majura took out 6000, Belconnen 400 and the present cull at Callum Brae and other Nature Reserves is expected to about 550. This of course is why the ACT Govt is accused of taking the easy option of slaughter. The writer at: http://candobetter.org/node/1274 blames the Earless Dragon for being a convenient excuse and casts doubts on the statistics used to justify these ‘culls’. It is worth reading and you can vent your rage there too!
Doesn’t anyone here see the irony and hypocrisy that the one city that was deliberately planned to be a showpiece, the epitome of excellence, a paradigm of perfection, the true Bush Capital, Australian Federation on show etc etc is now so well known for these regular slaughters? Would it be terribly un-Austraian if the ACT Govt tried to live with their wildlife instead?

I’ll now go back to the brick-wall-head-bashing for some light relief.

FC said :

Or maybe they just took my advice or realised that their carefacter in conversing with you mob is zero.

Wonderful how their care factor reduced in proportion to the collapse of their “facts”

But but but,

its just wrong OK.

Or maybe they just took my advice or realised that their carefacter in conversing with you mob is zero.

Aaaaand unsurprisingly, as soon as asked for honest, verifiable facts from the anti-cull camp, we hear nothing but the sound of crickets….

Okay, back to the facts, then.

The stopkangarookilling.org website makes fairly outrageous claims of kangaroo numbers “crashing” by more than 75% all over the country.

Looking at one of their major source documentts which I’ve mentioned before, the 2008 Kangaroo Cull Quota Report, it’s easy to find the tables they seem to have taken these numbers from.

These tables show a massive decline in roo numbers between 2002-2003. However, the tables also indicate that 2003 was the year a different source for the numbers started being used.

Tellingly, between 1992-1993, when the previous source was first used, we see a massive increase in estimated roo numbers. This would strongly suggest that the increase and decline are due to a change in the methodology of data collection, unless you’re willing to accept a massive coincidence of these changes just happening to occur at the same time.

These changeovers are clearly marked on the tables, so it would seem that the keepers of the stopkangarookilling website are playing fast and loose with the numbers, willing to be not entirely honest in thway they present their “facts” in order to shore up their ideals.

sorry johnboy. I had posted it before your message came up :0

Spideydog.
I guess we have both kind of read each others posts wrong.
sorry for jumping the gun..

Andy pandy – I’ll hop right to it 😉

I agree that a lot of debate here is because we all hold different views, but I just think there is some things that are just not worth getting into. Especially for me I have found I just have to weigh up how much I care about
a) the next hour/2hours/day of my life,
b)whether I want to spend that time entering into discussion with people who are likely going to say things that I have usually heard before and are likely going to piss me off.
c)whether I care enough about using my time and mental energy to ‘get into it’ with a bunch of strangers on the internet with the hope of some seeing reason in my opinion.

Some things are worth it, because obviously both parties can enlighten the other side about things that they weren’t previously aware of/different ways of looking at it. A lot of the time its not worth it though.

Back on topic people.

sirocco said :

Spideydog said :

Besides, if we didn’t debate because people have fundamentally different values, Riotact would cease to exist.

I dunno about that…. I think we debate here cos we can’t help ourselves 🙂

Nothing better than a good old Riotact mass debate.

That too …lol

Spideydog said :

Besides, if we didn’t debate because people have fundamentally different values, Riotact would cease to exist.

I dunno about that…. I think we debate here cos we can’t help ourselves 🙂

When you find they ironing in your comments might I suggest some starch for that clean crisp appearance

FC said :

“They”
I have never stated, nor been asked for any facts..Or do you mean Downunder. Where’s the ironing in my comment.
My comment is due to the fact that obviously a lot of you, and downunder – have fundamentally different values- and therefore nothing either party is really going to say is going to convince the other party. Therefore I would see it as a waste of time.

My useage of “They” was in relation to Downunder & Menkit, not you FC, I though it was obvious, but if it gave you the wrong impression, it was not intended that way.

FC said :

I wouldn’t bother trying to debate with the people on here though. You would likely achieve more banging you head up against a brick wall

The way that is written, gave me the impression that “it is not worth debating with the people on here, as they won’t listen to you” From the replies I had seen, this was not the case.

Besides, if we didn’t debate because people have fundamentally different values, Riotact would cease to exist.

Clown Killer3:06 pm 07 Jul 09

It’s not that our views are fundamentally diferenct FC. It’s more a case of we’re right and he’s a nutter.

Spideydog said :

FC said :

I wouldn’t bother trying to debate with the people on here though. You would likely achieve more banging you head up against a brick wall.

Ozhair said :

Going to the stopkillingkangaroos website, I accessed a paper (the 2008 Kangaroo Cull Report) which stated outright that kangaroo populations have increased.

After Menkit’s mention of the iucn, sirocco actually checked the facts, and discovered that roos are listed as being of “least concern” as an endangered species.

So, there we have facts, from sources suggested by the anti-cullers themselves, that directly refute their arguments.

Am I the only one that sees the irony in the comment made by FC ?? Seemed like a well thought out, debated reply to me. They have repeatedly been asked for facts to support their claims and when they do attempt to supply facts, they contradict their own message ?

“They”
I have never stated, nor been asked for any facts..Or do you mean Downunder. Where’s the ironing in my comment.
My comment is due to the fact that obviously a lot of you, and downunder – have fundamentally different values- and therefore nothing either party is really going to say is going to convince the other party. Therefore I would see it as a waste of time.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy1:22 pm 07 Jul 09

Downunder said :

Yes, they are. But they can’t cope with motor vehicles, bushfires, barbed-wire fences, shooters and governments who see them as a ‘resource’ to be ‘harvested’ like wheat; or as pests to be exterminated (even in National Parks).

Bushfires have been around longer than kangaroos anyway. They jump barbed wire fences easily.

Few of them are killed by cars (compared with the total population). Same goes for shooting.

The government wants to reduce numbers because in some areas they are indeed a pest.

They are NOT endangered. They are NOT going to become extinct any time soon.

As I said, they are extremely well adapted to modern Australia, and will continue to exist in large numbers for the foreseeable future. Your emotional responses aren’t going to change that. Out of curiousity, Downunder, can to tell me (generally) where you live?

FC said :

I wouldn’t bother trying to debate with the people on here though. You would likely achieve more banging you head up against a brick wall.

Ozhair said :

Going to the stopkillingkangaroos website, I accessed a paper (the 2008 Kangaroo Cull Report) which stated outright that kangaroo populations have increased.

After Menkit’s mention of the iucn, sirocco actually checked the facts, and discovered that roos are listed as being of “least concern” as an endangered species.

So, there we have facts, from sources suggested by the anti-cullers themselves, that directly refute their arguments.

Am I the only one that sees the irony in the comment made by FC ?? Seemed like a well thought out, debated reply to me. They have repeatedly been asked for facts to support their claims and when they do attempt to supply facts, they contradict their own message ?

Yup. A quick roundoup of facts so far:

Going to the stopkillingkangaroos website, I accessed a paper (the 2008 Kangaroo Cull Report) which stated outright that kangaroo populations have increased.

After Menkit’s mention of the iucn, sirocco actually checked the facts, and discovered that roos are listed as being of “least concern” as an endangered species.

So, there we have facts, from sources suggested by the anti-cullers themselves, that directly refute their arguments.

Shooting themselves in the foot much?

Downunder,
why shouldn’t they be treated as a resource? Should cows or sheep not be treated as a resource? or does your outrage extend only to native animals?

And i’ll repeat

chewy14 said :

Downunder,
we are still waiting for you to provide an effective solution to this problem.

Jumping up and down saying “its not fair” won’t really get you anywhere.

Ozhair said :

Downunder, re: “facts”. Please quote sources to indicate these areas where roos have died out, and details of roo abattoirs that have shut down because there are no more roos to kill.

That would be a good start, but no “facts” from a propaganda site either. I won’t hold my breath eh ?

sirocco said :

wide distribution, large population, occurrence in a number of protected areas, lack of major threats, and because it is not in decline.

not endangered in any way. by all means complain because you don’t want to see furry loveable creatures killed but don’t bollocks it up with nonsense about threats of extinction.

Downunder said :

I am going to try bashing my head against a brick wall for relief.

Post pics!

Downunder, re: “facts”. Please quote sources to indicate these areas where roos have died out, and details of roo abattoirs that have shut down because there are no more roos to kill.

Good plan Downunder.
I find it to be an appealing option sometimes after reading some things posted here:)

Yes, they are. But they can’t cope with motor vehicles, bushfires, barbed-wire fences, shooters and governments who see them as a ‘resource’ to be ‘harvested’ like wheat; or as pests to be exterminated (even in National Parks). Nor do they ‘breed like rabbits’. An EG joey spends 8 months pouchbound and isn’t weaned until about 16 months. They simply cannot raise more than ONE young a year who often will be killed by something or someone before maturity. Where they are abundant is where they concentrate in mobs when conditions favour them, not because they can ‘breed like rabbits’. They can’t.
In other areas they are rare or have died out. Many roo abattoirs have closed down because there are no more roos to kill.
No insults there. Just facts. Make of them what you will. I am going to try bashing my head against a brick wall for relief.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy11:13 am 07 Jul 09

Kangaroo populations vary a lot due to the way in which they breed. Females remain pregnant for much of the time with the very immature foetus being born into the pouch after only a few weeks. Unless there is sufficient water and food, they tear the foetus out of their pouch, and it dies. They do this because many parts of Australia have occasional good rains, and the kangaroos have evolved to take advantage of this.

Now, with the development of Australia, there are many regular sources of food and water that the kangaroos didn’t previously have access to. As a result, they breed like bloody rabbits. As long as we have small dams and paddocks for farming, kangaroos are in no danger of becoming extinct. In may areas, they are in almost plague proportions.

Let’s get some brains back into this. Kangaroos, by their very design, and extremely well suited to surviving in modern Australia.

Tooks said :

Menkit said :

Otherwise you might have taken the time to look at the website proving conclusively that kangaroos are ON TRACK to extinction. I didn’t say they were extinct – YET.

Which website?

I reckon it was this one:

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41513/0

” Taxonomy [top]
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
ANIMALIA CHORDATA MAMMALIA DIPROTODONTIA MACROPODIDAE

Scientific Name: Macropus giganteus
Species Authority: Shaw, 1790
Common Name/s:
English – Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Assessed: 2008
Assessor/s Munny, P., Menkhorst, P. & Winter, J.
Evaluator/s: Lamoreux, J. & Hilton-Taylor, C. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)
Justification:
Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, large population, occurrence in a number of protected areas, lack of major threats, and because it is not in decline. “

the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the site/book that has been around the longest and is easily the most well-respected text on species conservation (at leat within scientific communities) and it lists the Eastern Grey as of “Least Concern”

I’m not saying I’m happy with their culling but I couldn’t say with a straight face that Eastern Greys are “on track to extinction” or even (like that kooky stopkangarookilling website) that they are “quasi-extinct”). I am glad RSPCA are overseeing the whole thing and I am really against senseless “sport shooting” of roos but it seems clear that these animals pose a serious threat to the environment they are in.

LOL.

http://www.stopkangarookilling.org

There is a website, it must be true.

I’ve seen websites on Obama being a Muslim, crop circles being the result of alien visitors, 9/11 a conspiracy by the Jews.

All true because there is a website.

Downunder,
we are still waiting for you to provide an effective solution to this problem.

Jumping up and down saying “its not fair” won’t really get you anywhere.

Danman said :

Canberra – We put the laughter into Kangaroo Slaughter.

🙂 +1

Clown Killer9:53 am 07 Jul 09

You would likely achieve more banging you head up against a brick wall.

Well for a start it might knock some of the crap out which might make rational thought a little easier.

Downunder. Not all Canberrans are supportive of the slaughter. I am definitly not. And the RSPCA, while overseeing the massacre – does not approve of it (that is my understanding anyway) But i believe they now just want to ensure it is done as humanely as possible.
I wouldn’t bother trying to debate with the people on here though. You would likely achieve more banging you head up against a brick wall.
That would probably be more enjoyable also.

And we are? People who believe that Australians (even those in Canberra) do not have to resort to frequent slaughters of native fauna? Under the guidance of the ACT Government and the RSPCA who are very good at observing and approving massacres and less effective at preventing them. Obviously there is no will to change Australia’s well-deserved reputation of being the world’s worst destroyer of native species.

Keep it up! You are doing a fantastic job! And I am sure that all those tourists would love to see you in action.

Clown Killer9:25 am 07 Jul 09

I don’t know if there’s much to add really. Downunders’ gross hypocrisy is really laid bare by their own hand. My approach is vindicated. These people are exposed for what they are.

Canberra – We put the laughter into Kangaroo Slaughter.

BerraBoy68 said :

Downunder said :

A wonderful technique. It’s called ad hominem – attack the person not the argument. A sign of someone who doesn’t know how to argue and resorts to insults. Usually with rotten spelling. People like you just reinforce the convictions of the rest of us.

So what’s it called when you attacking an industry, and even insulting the entire population of your Capital city, unrelated to your argument as you and your cronies are doing? Now you’ve just demonstrated your lack of intelligence by arguing against yourself. Nice work.

Nice one.

Downunder said :

A wonderful technique. It’s called ad hominem – attack the person not the argument. A sign of someone who doesn’t know how to argue and resorts to insults. Usually with rotten spelling. People like you just reinforce the convictions of the rest of us.

So what’s it called when you attacking an industry, and even insulting the entire population of your Capital city, unrelated to your argument as you and your cronies are doing? Now you’ve just demonstrated your lack of intelligence by arguing against yourself. Nice work.

Ha, I love it! Menkit accuses us of not having half a brain cell to rub between us, yet his/her brain is incapable of comprehending a world where more than one person might disagree with their point of view.

By the way, I did indeed look at the website posted by Menkit. As has been pointed out, statistics can be twisted to fit any argument. In fact, I went a little further and checked one of the papers that they seem to favour in culling (pun intended) their statistics, The 2008 Kangaroo Quota Report.

Now, despite the anti-cull bleating about the onset of extinction, the report has this to say:

Around 82 percent of New South Wales remains drought declared in November
2007, according to the NSW Department of Primary Industries. Despite the ongoing
drought, total kangaroo populations across the western plains have increased by
about 8.5 percent since the 2006 survey.

Further, according to Table D of the report, red kangaroo numbers have actually increased by 16% in the past year.

Also, as far as the cull quotas are concerned, while quotas of 15-17% are in place, actual cull numbers are in fact more like 10-11%

As you can see, two can play at the statistics game. Methinks Menkit has simply taken what has been presented on the website as gospel, without thinking or following through for themselves. After all, how unbiased do you really think a website called “stopkillingkangaroos.com” is going to be? It’s simply a website that reinforces an already established mindset.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go talk to myself on one of the other dozen or so threads on RiotAct.

Clown Killer said :

So a bunch of dip-sh!t hair shirt wearing eco-mental-ist douchebags are going to get their knickers in a knot over the government sanctioned humane destruction of a couple of thousand kangaroos … boo hoo … cry me a river.

The harse reality is this – If a bunch of screwed-up vegan animal liberation crazies decide to give Canberra the miss then its a win-win situation as far as I’m concerned. Canberrans get sensible, cost effective and humane management of our kangaroo population and we don’t have to put up with envio-dipsh!ts visiting us. That’s a great outcome.

A wonderful technique. It’s called ad hominem – attack the person not the argument. A sign of someone who doesn’t know how to argue and resorts to insults. Usually with rotten spelling. People like you just reinforce the convictions of the rest of us.

Well I ain’t the government and I see them in plague numbers …. suppose that makes me apart of the conspiracy as well.

Wow, they are going to cripple our tourism industry (did canberra have one??) Tourism blackmail is not really gonna cut the mustard me thinks ??

Menkit said :

Read the government’s own hidden data on http://www.stopkangarookilling.org

Bah hahahahah. Alleged conspiracy hidden data from a non-partial (bad) environmentalist propaganda site …. I’m converted.

You are an idiot and give real ecologists and environmentalists a bad name.

I’m with you on that one Thumper.

Menkit, I live about 500 meters from a massive mob of roo’s. Probably closer to any than you do. There are loads of joeys in this mob and no-ones hunting them. They are almost twice the number they were a few years back. Get a grip.

Throwing stats around is a pointless exercise as a good statistician can make them look like anything you want. What I try to avoid at all costs are fundamentalists, and you’re one of them. Blinkered, myopic and with tunnel vision who lives without any attempt to look or understand any views outside your own. You’re just another one with a ‘you’re all wrong, I’m right, damn you all all to hell’ attitude.

“If 3.5 billion people died in 2009, i.e. half the human race, would that get your attention? And if that trend continued wouldn’t you be looking at the causes of their demise and wondering if the time would come when there were zero?”

We’d still be in little danger of extinction.

Extinction of roos? Back in your box.

Am I right in thinking that the advent of european settlement has increased the population of kangaroos from what it was pre-1788? All those dry forests and spindly grass couldn’t support too many roos. Replace that with wide open fertilsed grasslands and you get a population explosion of grazing macropods. Which is what we see now.

Menkit said :

Otherwise you might have taken the time to look at the website proving conclusively that kangaroos are ON TRACK to extinction. I didn’t say they were extinct – YET.

Which website?

Clown Killer6:42 pm 06 Jul 09

Here’s some advice I’ll pass out for free: Grow up. Get some perspective. Live a little and try not to make too much of a tool out of yourself. Get that sorted and the rest of the world might actually bother to listen to you.

As I suspected, there isn’t half a brain cell between the lot of you – if in fact this isn’t one person masquerading as many, that is.
Otherwise you might have taken the time to look at the website proving conclusively that kangaroos are ON TRACK to extinction. I didn’t say they were extinct – YET.

When over 50% of a species you kill are females that is not sustainable. After all who will be producing a new joey next year? 50% fewer. Every night 10,000 kangaroos are killed as part of the commercial kangaroo killing program. So what if you see a few thousand as you go to work? That doesn’t mean they aren’t on track to extinction. You have to look at trends.

If 3.5 billion people died in 2009, i.e. half the human race, would that get your attention? And if that trend continued wouldn’t you be looking at the causes of their demise and wondering if the time would come when there were zero?

Read about the history of the passenger pigeon where they went from 5 billion to zero in a short 40 years. There are frightening parallels between the kangaroo industry and the passenger pigeon industry, who were literally eaten to death due to man’s ignorance, greed and stupidity.

We learned nothing from that. And if you think we can survive without kangaroos and other native animals, you better go back to school and study biodiversity. The IUCN is saying that the wildlife crisis is bigger than the economic crisis for that reason.

Are they also going to boycott every other state that conducts roo culls?

So, Menkit and jbmaf, how about you walk into a few tourism-related places and declare in a loud and happy voice: “I intend to destroy your livelihood because of something totally unrelated to what you do for a living!!”. See what kind of sympathetic reaction you get to your cause.

Clown Killer10:09 am 06 Jul 09

So a bunch of dip-sh!t hair shirt wearing eco-mental-ist douchebags are going to get their knickers in a knot over the government sanctioned humane destruction of a couple of thousand kangaroos … boo hoo … cry me a river.

The harse reality is this – If a bunch of screwed-up vegan animal liberation crazies decide to give Canberra the miss then its a win-win situation as far as I’m concerned. Canberrans get sensible, cost effective and humane management of our kangaroo population and we don’t have to put up with envio-dipsh!ts visiting us. That’s a great outcome.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy9:46 am 06 Jul 09

Extinct?!?!?!?! There are literally thousands of the buggers living wild within a couple of kilomtres of my house. How do I know? I see the little bastards every damn day, and periodically have to drive around them on the road!

Credibility of the complaint: zero.

Menkit said :

Won’t all you people be feeling stupid when kangaroos are extinct?

Bahahahahahaha.

I certainly will be refusing to visit Canberra this year, and am telling every contactI have, both in Australia and overseas, to not visit Canberra. ACT government should not be allowed to butuallly kill 10,000 kangaroos in the ACT within 2 years! ACT government needs to listen, they need to hear that the public (especially overseas visitors, as Canberrians seem blinded) will not condone such violent, cruel acts. The world is watching Canberra!

With the parks of my suburb full of the fresh turds of the buggers I’m finding it very hard to take this threat of extinction stuff seriously.

Won’t all you people be feeling stupid when kangaroos are extinct?
If you had half a brain cell between the lot of you you would do a bit of research and then you would see that kangaroo populations have crashed by over 50% from 2001 thanks to the drought and over killing.
And by the way, the quota this year is almost 4 million out of a potential less than 19 million which excludes farmer killing, road kill, government ‘culls, drought, fires, floods, habitat loss, illegal killing, disease, predation. Interestingly enough they have never been able to fill that quota due to not being able to find them. And now China is signing a contract to import kangaroo meat????? Wake up guys, before it is too late.

Read the government’s own hidden data on http://www.stopkangarookilling.org

The myth that kangaroos are in plague proportion is a lie put out by the kangaroo industry. Kangaroos do not attack cars. Cars are in THEIR territory that they have inhabited for 25 million years – before the feral white humans invaded this country making kangaroos ferals in their own land. How arrogant we are to think that WE own the land, and WE own the kangaroos and therefore have the right to kill them! Humans are just insensitive bullies who don’t give a toss about anything but themselves. To hell with kangaroos and their beloved families, to hell with the planet!

Downunder said :

I also know plenty of overseas tourists, and I’m spreading the word. And to my Australian friends though they already know how the ACT ‘manages’ its native fauna and would never choose to visit! Who in their right mind would?

Because I’m sure all your friends planned to come to Canberra prior to this. It is the o/s tourist mecca afterall. Why visit the Barrier Reef, Coonawarra or Ularu when you can look at a few grey kangaroos in a paddock

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy6:51 pm 05 Jul 09

Hey Downunder – ever tried a kangaro steak? Fcking delicious!

Ozhair said :

BerraBoy68 said :

When people don’t agree with your limited point of view you try to damage something totaly unrelated to your cause. What you are effectively saying is “if you don’t agree with me I’m going to do my best to hurt you, your children, other family and friends”.

Isn’t that effectively a definition of terrorism?

Yeah, I know, drawing a long bow, etc.

But, still, it’s a great method these whackjobs have of trying to gain “support”, isn’t it? Threaten the livelihoods of completely arbitrary people who may, in fact, already be sympathetic to their point of view. How supportive do you think someone in the tourism industry will be when their job disappears, destroying their livelihood, while the animal rights nutjobs sit nice and cosy at a safe distance in their non-threatened jobs?

While I deplore cruelty to animals, I tend to use the RSPCA as a guidestick, and since they have people overseeing this cull…

But I guess we’re seeing the typical response of animal rights extremists here: “Save the animals! F#@K the people!”

Exactly, Ozhair!

Downunder said :

Well if being ‘pathetic’ means I oppose cruelty to animals I’m happy to be called that. People have the chance to move from Canberra if they choose, or try to change things. Kangaroos don’t have that choice, – they’re at the ‘mercy’ of a heartless officialdom that always chooses slaughter as it is the easiest option.

I also know plenty of overseas tourists, and I’m spreading the word. And to my Australian friends though they already know how the ACT ‘manages’ its native fauna and would never choose to visit! Who in their right mind would?

No. And may I say you’ve made a very poor attempt at deflecting the ridiculousness of your earlier posts.

By your being ‘pathetic’ I mean you’re getting on very high horse because others don’t share your view. Your very ill considered reply to those that don’t share you views is to issue threats against a city and the livelihood of some of its residents. Spoiled much as a child were you? You’re comments are akin to saying you’ll hold your breath until the cull stops. Maybe not a bad idea…

I’d be surprised if anybody in Canberra likes animal cruelty (hey, search for ‘ferrets’ on this very site) but then we don’t like the idea of thousands of roos’s dying in pain from starvation either. Something tells me you’re never going to get this point. And who in their right mind would visit Canberra? Well, hundreds of thousands of people actually – the stats speak for themselves. But please really commit to your promise to stay away.

BerraBoy68 said :

When people don’t agree with your limited point of view you try to damage something totaly unrelated to your cause. What you are effectively saying is “if you don’t agree with me I’m going to do my best to hurt you, your children, other family and friends”.

Isn’t that effectively a definition of terrorism?

Yeah, I know, drawing a long bow, etc.

But, still, it’s a great method these whackjobs have of trying to gain “support”, isn’t it? Threaten the livelihoods of completely arbitrary people who may, in fact, already be sympathetic to their point of view. How supportive do you think someone in the tourism industry will be when their job disappears, destroying their livelihood, while the animal rights nutjobs sit nice and cosy at a safe distance in their non-threatened jobs?

While I deplore cruelty to animals, I tend to use the RSPCA as a guidestick, and since they have people overseeing this cull…

But I guess we’re seeing the typical response of animal rights extremists here: “Save the animals! F#@K the people!”

Well if being ‘pathetic’ means I oppose cruelty to animals I’m happy to be called that. People have the chance to move from Canberra if they choose, or try to change things. Kangaroos don’t have that choice, – they’re at the ‘mercy’ of a heartless officialdom that always chooses slaughter as it is the easiest option.

I also know plenty of overseas tourists, and I’m spreading the word. And to my Australian friends though they already know how the ACT ‘manages’ its native fauna and would never choose to visit! Who in their right mind would?

Downunder said :

I really hope Peta comes on board and supports a boycott, as they have with their anti-mulesing capaign which has seriously damaged the wool industry! It’s very apparent that only an economic threat could alter the mindset of the parochial Canberra residents and Government and force them to see that such recurring massacres of inoffensive fauna (that happen to be our nation’s iconic animal) are NOT good PR. Obviously appeals to the hearts and minds of people who choose to live in this little patch of dirt will never work. I think the Federal Government should relocate to one of the concrete capitals like Melbourne and leave the ACT to the native animals who are so abused. Ot at the least allow tourists to SEE these massacres for themselves and spread the word.

Poor you. When people don’t agree with your limited point of view you try to damage something totaly unrelated to your cause. What you are effectively saying is “if you don’t agree with me I’m going to do my best to hurt you, your children, other family and friends”. What pethetic people you and your friends are. Fortunately the majority of Australians and international tourist, and I know quite a few, are smarter than you and they realise that culling is an unfortunate necessity required for the greater good of a great many animals, including other Kangaroos.

I really hope Peta comes on board and supports a boycott, as they have with their anti-mulesing capaign which has seriously damaged the wool industry! It’s very apparent that only an economic threat could alter the mindset of the parochial Canberra residents and Government and force them to see that such recurring massacres of inoffensive fauna (that happen to be our nation’s iconic animal) are NOT good PR. Obviously appeals to the hearts and minds of people who choose to live in this little patch of dirt will never work. I think the Federal Government should relocate to one of the concrete capitals like Melbourne and leave the ACT to the native animals who are so abused. Ot at the least allow tourists to SEE these massacres for themselves and spread the word.

We should rename Canberra the “Kangaroo Capital”. Who knew tourists came here for the kangaroos?

And I’m still hiding Skippy, BTW!

Clown Killer said :

I know you can do that with wine – serve the really good bottle to your guests first and save the lesser bottle for later when everyones already a little loose. I wonder if that’s what they were doing Granny – serving up say a nice pedigree poodle or somthing first up and saving the mangy old bitza in case anyone asked for seconds!

Who knows, CK?

But the interpreters bought us the first lot of shawarmas. They were the ones we were photographed with saying ‘delicious’ in Russian. We liked them so much that we sent somebody off to buy some next time we were in St Petersburg. They definitely tasted more doggy and I struggled to finish that one.

It was days before we discovered the horrible truth, and months before I could eat another shawarma ….

Downunder said :

Astounding!! You Canberra people won’t be happy until every kangaroo and joey in your pathetic little piece of Australia have been slaughtered. I really hope all tourists boycott the ACT in droves. There’s not much to see or do anyway, and most tourists really don’t want to see dead kangaroos. Which is about all you have to offer.
The ACT Government is so short-sighted that shooting is the only solution they can think of. Two points – I live in a roo area where shooting is NOT permitted. And PETA has nothing whatsoever to do with this. The tourist boycott is the work of the NKPC which is not related to PETA. As anyone who could read the article could have seen, unless they were blinded by their own stupidity and prejudice

And uninformed idiots would rather hundred’s if not thousands of roo’s die a horrible death of starvation just to protect your delicate sensibilities. You’re a champ!

I’m glad your not going to come to the ACT. We’re a highly educated bunch and we don’t want the likes of you lowering the average IQ here.

bigfeet said :

BerraBoy68 said :

Back to the Roo cull – I’d like someone to post a picture of this O’Brian character please. Just so people know who he is when they lose their job because tourism drops in the ACT.

http://www.wildlifeprotectaust.org.au/About%20Us.htm

Why, thank you Bigfeet!

The tourist boycott is the work of the NKPC which is not related to PETA. As anyone who could read the article could have seen, unless they were blinded by their own stupidity and prejudice

No-one has linked the two together, just likened one to the other – Stupid “Animal Rights” groups who miss the point far too often. If only they’d concentrate their efforts on real Animal Rights issues…

Perhaps if you weren’t blinded by your own stupidity and prejudice, you might have caught that.. But alas, you’re merely re-enforcing the stereotype…

Do we have to be nice to all newbies?

Come on down Downunder and collect our surplus roos.
Put up (or shut up) these alternate methods for dealing with the surplus roos since we all are too stupid to know what these might be.
Most of us happen to like our ‘pathetic little piece of Australia’.

What a total idiot.

Clown Killer3:55 pm 04 Jul 09

…unless they were blinded by their own stupidity and prejudice

Looks like a text book case of the pot calling the kettle black if you ask me.

Astounding!! You Canberra people won’t be happy until every kangaroo and joey in your pathetic little piece of Australia have been slaughtered. I really hope all tourists boycott the ACT in droves. There’s not much to see or do anyway, and most tourists really don’t want to see dead kangaroos. Which is about all you have to offer.
The ACT Government is so short-sighted that shooting is the only solution they can think of. Two points – I live in a roo area where shooting is NOT permitted. And PETA has nothing whatsoever to do with this. The tourist boycott is the work of the NKPC which is not related to PETA. As anyone who could read the article could have seen, unless they were blinded by their own stupidity and prejudice

BerraBoy68 said :

Back to the Roo cull – I’d like someone to post a picture of this O’Brian character please. Just so people know who he is when they lose their job because tourism drops in the ACT.

http://www.wildlifeprotectaust.org.au/About%20Us.htm

Clown Killer3:26 pm 04 Jul 09

The first dog tasted a lot nicer than the second one

I know you can do that with wine – serve the really good bottle to your guests first and save the lesser bottle for later when everyones already a little loose. I wonder if that’s what they were doing Granny – serving up say a nice pedigree poodle or somthing first up and saving the mangy old bitza in case anyone asked for seconds!

I most certainly did not *knowingly* eat dog, CK. The Russian interpreters thought it was hilarious watching us dumb Aussies scoff it down. They eat it all the time. Poor student food. The first dog tasted a lot nicer than the second one. I was a bit worried about hydatids and stuff for a while after I got back ….

: )

People eat what they want to eat and sure it upsets others, especially when they don’t have the cultural sensitivities to deal with it. EG: the Japanese eat whales, we hate them doing it, etc.. but we eat cows, which really p1sses off the Hindu’s. Imagine if we suddenly discovered some foreign tribe that got off on eating albino dolphin calves! All the vegans, vegetarians, fruitarians etc. would turn themselves inside out with righteous indignation (is there anybody more self righteous than a vegetarian!?) demanding they stop. I eat meat because it tastes gooooooood! And the rarer the better. I do, however, draw the line at biting into still live kittens, so that’s nice.

Back to the Roo cull – I’d like someone to post a picture of this O’Brian character please. Just so people know who he is when they lose their job because tourism drops in the ACT.

It’d also be nice to know that when Mr O’Brian goes into his local shop, servo etc.. he’s refused services for being a total a*sehat.

FC said :

A poor comparason er outlaw motorcycle gangs too. One is a gang involving criminals with their main motives being self gain through crime, the other being a group of people who

ride motorcycles

Clown Killer7:44 am 04 Jul 09

I’ve seen a chipmunk. They’re tiny. Once they were skinned and cleaned you’d hae to have a dozen of them to make a meal for one – it’d be like earing mice or small rats.

I’ve eaten some weird stuff, but I don’t think that I could knowingly eat dog – for some reason it just seems wrong for me – all other sorts of domestic pets, no problem, just not dogs.

So does something that might have been a chipmunk.

Dog tastes a lot like chicken too.

Clown Killer10:28 pm 03 Jul 09

I would have no problem eating a kitten if it tasted nice.

I tried cat when working out in the Great Sandy Desert a couple of years ago. The ladies that cooked it for me actually called it ‘bush chickin’ and stereotypes aside, it was one of the only times I’ve eaten bush food where you could identify a familiarity – that cat really did taste like chicken.

So, NSW kills and exports hundreds of thousands of roos every year, and we’re getting attcked for humanely shooting a few hundred with rspca approval. check out this article:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25373251-1242,00.html

yes….kangaroo steak….some vegetarian whacko wants us to choke on it……

Did someone say steak?

enjoy that steak.
Hope you don’t choke on it. Really.

FC said :

That’s debatable chewy. Humans function perfectly well (at their peak) on vegetarian diets.

I would not have people eat any animal willo.

A poor comparason er outlaw motorcycle gangs too. One is a gang involving criminals with their main motives being self gain through crime, the other being a group of people who might take this over the top everynow and then, but who’s main gain is to stop the needless suffering of animals.
Doesn’t really match up in my eyes.

both think they can do whatever they like…..whether lawful or not to meet their own ends…..pretty close if you ask me….animals and the world in general would be better off if peta would just peter out…..i’m all for everyone eating vegetables..so long as it is accompanied by a big juicy steak or a nicely crumbed sea kitten……

That’s debatable chewy. Humans function perfectly well (at their peak) on vegetarian diets.

I would not have people eat any animal willo.

A poor comparason er outlaw motorcycle gangs too. One is a gang involving criminals with their main motives being self gain through crime, the other being a group of people who might take this over the top everynow and then, but who’s main gain is to stop the needless suffering of animals.
Doesn’t really match up in my eyes.

now that would be a bugger to gut and gill…….

I could eat a sea kitten, but I don’t think I could bring myself to eat a sea puppy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvcgAjs6AYQ

Holden Caulfield2:23 pm 03 Jul 09

FC said :

Maybe they are over the top because they have found that other methods just aren’t getting through to people.
The whole “sea kitten” sounds ridiculously hilarious. People would think it is terrible to eat cute little kittens, but don’t blink about eating fish. It is about making people actually think about what they are eating in terms of – “you are eating a living, breathing animal that can feel pain, just like your little kitten can”

The Chaser boys did a good job of that on Wednesday night.

Where can I get me some of that Sumo meat!

FC said :

Maybe they are over the top because they have found that other methods just aren’t getting through to people.
The whole “sea kitten” sounds ridiculously hilarious. People would think it is terrible to eat cute little kittens, but don’t blink about eating fish. It is about making people actually think about what they are eating in terms of – “you are eating a living, breathing animal that can feel pain, just like your little kitten can”

and what kind of animal would you have us eat instead?…humans eat animals simple as that…..and there are some cultures that eat kittens too…..I actually have a problem with anyone telling people what they should and should not eat…..I certainly would not eat cat, dog or whale meat myself (although i have eaten dugong and turtle) but i dont believe that I have the right to tell anyone else that they shouldn’t just because they are “cute” peta are to animal rights what outlaw motorcycle gangs are to law and order

Yes FC and that is why their message doesn’t get through.
Humans are omnivores.
I would have no problem eating a kitten if it tasted nice.

Maybe they are over the top because they have found that other methods just aren’t getting through to people.
The whole “sea kitten” sounds ridiculously hilarious. People would think it is terrible to eat cute little kittens, but don’t blink about eating fish. It is about making people actually think about what they are eating in terms of – “you are eating a living, breathing animal that can feel pain, just like your little kitten can”

FC said :

Nutcases that actually give a sh-t about the babaric crap that goes on around the world, and that most of you apathetic fools don’t seem to give two hoots about.

oh yea…..how about the poor treatment of those innocent sea kittens?…..peta are a pack of over the top whackos who actually set their own cause back with their ridiculous and sometimes criminal behaviour

Nutcases that actually give a sh-t about the babaric crap that goes on around the world, and that most of you apathetic fools don’t seem to give two hoots about.

PETA were fouded by nutcases, for the benefit of producing nutcase media releases and nutcase pro-animal action.

This is the Will of their Predient and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk who is, by her own admission, “a complete press slut”.
http://www.peta.org/feat/newkirk/will.html

PETA stands for People for Eating Tasty Animals

willo said :

i reckon we should fight back and advertise the cull as a tourist event…..a kangaroo safari and charge the overseas shooter $1000 each to shoot a single kangaroo…..good little earner i’d reckon…

Agreed willo, though I think many people would be happy to pay less than $100 for few shots at skippy. I know local farmers that would knock off roo’s on a regular basis without a peep out of Mr O’Brian and his mates. Now, I’ve shot my share of roo’s so I stopped along time ago and I wouldn’t do it again personally even if someone offered me money. But I can see then need for this cull to be conducted, so get on with it.

Threatening the livelihood of many Canberran’s who rely on tourism to get by is a pretty childish way to get attention Mr O’Brian.

Holden Caulfield said :

I saw a duck once.

So did I. But the one I saw was 6 ft tall, had a long tail, was grey and covered in fur! So I shot it.

i reckon we should fight back and advertise the cull as a tourist event…..a kangaroo safari and charge the overseas shooter $1000 each to shoot a single kangaroo…..good little earner i’d reckon…

Deadmandrinking11:41 am 03 Jul 09

Postalgeek said :

It’s time Canberra had a Dalek convention to counter-balance this.

I think there’s a star trek one coming up. That will let a few hidden fans out from under their shells.

I agree with culling in small numbers, but not overkill. Please don’t compare logic with what PETA was saying, grundy.

I am yet to see all these malnourished/starving Kangaroos.
All the roos I see dead are the result of humans running them over in our cars.
Damn kangaroos inconveniencing peoples trips to work by being hit by there cars.

Why don’t we give the National Kangaroo Protection Coalition a chance to prove themselves? Offer them 1000 kangaroos, that they can collect any day this month. See what they do.

If they make excuses for not taking them, it might suggest they’re all talk. It’s easy to criticise. Not so easy to do something better.

But if they come up with a realistic plan that lets the roos live, fine, we can then let them take all the roos that would have been culled, and they can come back every year for more.

Holden Caulfield11:31 am 03 Jul 09

I saw a duck once.

I’d have thought tourists would prefer to see a reduced number of healthy kangaroos over large numbers of malnourished\starving\dead kangaroos.
Who’d have guessed?

I think is time for these people to stop sucking on their hemp garments.

I have heard more sense from drunkards mouths after a three week bender than this rubbish.

I put it down to the longstanding enmity between Reptoids and Kangaroos.

It’s time Canberra had a Dalek convention to counter-balance this.

What if they donned a kangaroo suit and stood in the firing line?

If that’s their strongest option, I strongly suggest a tactical strategic withdrawal before they lose their miniscule amount of remaining credibility.

Boycott all you like, but when their car is the one that is trashed by a roo, they’ll be the first to bleat and moan. Oxygen thieves the lot of them.

I see these guys on the same level as PETA in the US…

Anyone see their response to Obama swatting a fly?!

Clown Killer9:05 am 03 Jul 09

Retards.

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