Aussie Military brought in to Kill Kangaroos

4 years ago Nature

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The Australian military has begun a program to cull back a population of Eastern Gray Kangaroos outside of Canberra because of overpopulation, causing significant damage to the environment. At least 20 have already been killed, and a total of 400 will be exterminated by the end of the program, over a cacophony of protests from animal rights groups. While the RSPCA has been granted access to ensure that the killings are humane, other organizations are picketing in hopes of drumming up a public outcry.

The other organizations include the National Kangaroo Defense Coalition, which is approaching Paul McCartney through the British animal rights group Viva, of which he is a member. Viva has come out against the kangaroo cull, and in the past the Australian government has relented when the public outcry has reached a critical level. That level will likely be substantially higher this year than it was in the past due to the expense of transporting the kangaroos, or some other humane option of dealing with the overpopulation: it would cost an estimated 3.5 million Australian Dollars (3.29 US).

The NKDC has claimed that that number is a gross overstatement, and that the animals could be transported for as little as 750,000; a disparity that's not easily explained. It's also unclear how likely they are to actually provoke the involvement of Sir Paul, who while certainly dedicated to ethical treatment of animals, may prove beyond reach in this case. After all, you or I could tell a reporter that we had invited the former Beatle to our birthday party; while we may not be lying, the likelihood of him coming is probably quite small.

[AFP]

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Comments

Old Comments

zach says

Jul 21st, 2008 at 12am
Eat them. If you think about it that's a good option to remove all overpopulation in animals. Dogs for example just eat them and boom there population is controlled. PS: this comment was a joke

Matt says

May 22nd, 2008 at 12am
At last, someone posts a comment on a 'Roo cull that isn't a raving mental lunatic member of an animal rights group. Well said mate. If these animal rights people were really into looking after the animals they would check into the whole picture and see that transporting is not sustainable either. Perhaps the environmental groups should get onto the backs of the animal rights mobs and get up them about causing damage and overpopulation to the area the roos will be transported to. Even better, how about we transport these 'roos somewhere, then tranport overstocked 'roos from that area somewhere else, then transport more overpopulated 'roos from that next area somewhere else and on and on etc. We could use unemployed people to facilitae the perpetual movement of the 'roos too. Fixes two problems at once. Government happy - less unemployment; Animal rights happy - 'Roos moved not killed; Environmentalists happy - no overpopulation to cause damage.
Certainly the situation sucks. I live in Australia (in Brisbane), and I can tell you we are in the midst of a serious drought, perhaps the most serious drought in 100 years. The grasslands have all dried up. There are over 4 times the sustainable level of kangaroos in the area. Even if we were to relocate the kangaroos, we’d still be putting more pressure on other areas, and it’s not like we can relocated them just anywhere. No one wants to kill kangaroos - no one is going to be making money off this. It’s difficult, hard work which doesn’t look good for the cameras. But it must be done. The kangaroo population has grown too large, and winter is just around the corner here in Australia, and with winter comes a shortage of food for the Kangaroos. Either we cull them, or let them starve to death. And in the process of starving to death, they’ll also systematically destroy what little grass is left in that area, potentially driving some certain species to extinction. Both Greenpeace, the RSPCA and the environmental minster supports this cull. The only ones against it are the extreme “animal liberation” cults that bomb research facilities and poison meat. These people are more pagans and animal worshipers than environmental activists.

Korolev says

May 20th, 2008 at 12am
Certainly the situation sucks. I live in Australia (in Brisbane), and I can tell you we are in the midst of a serious drought, perhaps the most serious drought in 100 years. The grasslands have all dried up. There are over 4 times the sustainable level of kangaroos in the area. Even if we were to relocate the kangaroos, we'd still be putting more pressure on other areas, and it's not like we can relocated them just anywhere. No one wants to kill kangaroos - no one is going to be making money off this. It's difficult, hard work which doesn't look good for the cameras. But it must be done. The kangaroo population has grown too large, and winter is just around the corner here in Australia, and with winter comes a shortage of food for the Kangaroos. Either we cull them, or let them starve to death. And in the process of starving to death, they'll also systematically destroy what little grass is left in that area, potentially driving some certain species to extinction. Both Greenpeace, the RSPCA and the environmental minster supports this cull. The only ones against it are the extreme "animal liberation" cults that bomb research facilities and poison meat. These people are more pagans and animal worshipers than environmental activists.

Phil says

May 20th, 2008 at 12am
Just don't waste the meat!

Bill says

May 19th, 2008 at 12am
Kangaroo jerky. Yum!