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What's
going on here?
In 2007, the Australian Department of
Defence was ordered to kill 400 kangaroos
on the former Belconnen Naval Transmitter
Station (BNTS) by the ACT Government
at risk of prosecution by the RSPCA
ACT.
Why?
The BNTS is a 116 hectare parcel of
land located in a prime area of Belconnen.
The kangaroos on the site are captive
due to the high security fences surrounding
the site. The kangaroos have bred over
the years to a population of around
500 which the RSPCA and the ACT Government
believe is unsustainable on the site.
The ACT Government is now concerned
that this parcel of land is one of the
last remnants of Native Temperate Grassland
within the ACT and have found a plant
listed as vulnerable, the "Ginninderra
Peppercress" on the site. They
are also concerned that the area is
a breeding ground for the Golden Sun
Moth and have decided that killing 80%
of the kangaroos on the site will remove
any threats to these species.
The RSPCA ACT (which is heavily funded
by the ACT Government) sent a group
of "experts" to the site to
assess the kangaroos and quickly decided
that the kangaroos were starving to
death and must be killed to save them
dying from starvation. Interestingly,
one of the RSPCA “experts”
contacted a neighboring wildlife rescue
and rehabilitation group, Wildcare,
to find out how to tell if a kangaroo
was in fact in poor condition as she
did not know how to tell.
Another group of "experts"
was set up almost overnight, the Limestone
Plains Group. This group was made up
of scientists and academics funded by
the ACT Government and its sole purpose
was to push for the killing of the kangaroos
on the site.
But…
Despite the concerted effort of the
ACT Government funded "experts",
the Department of Defence sought an
ethical and humane alternative to outright
slaughter and approached Wildcare for
an alternative plan of action.
Wildcare delivered a report to Defence,
outlining a program of translocation
of the kangaroos rather than slaughtering
and burying them as demanded by the
ACT Government and its funded groups.
Wildcare's report was accepted by Defence
as the most ethical option and the proposed
solution – a whole of ecosystem
approach - was put out to tender.
Unfortunately…
Despite the Department of Defence's
best effort, all their efforts to find
an ethical and humane alternative to
the wholesale slaughter of the BNTS
kangaroos have come to nothing as the
ACT Chief Conservator Maxine Cooper
has refused to grant an export permit
to move these kangaroos to pre-organised
sites outside the ACT and on the eve
of the resumption of the so-called official
kangaroo culling season, told the successful
tenderer, Cumberland Ecology not to
pursue any translocation options.
Now, as
@ 7 March…
The official kangaroo culling season
resumed on the 1st of March and continues
until July. Perhaps fearing a public
backlash, or too much scrutiny of their
motives, the ACT Government has urged
the tenderer to commence the cull immediately.
By the 7th of March fences have gone
up to prevent the kangaroos seeking
the safety of the trees. Funnel fencing
with shade cloth to trap the kangaroos
has gone up. More ominously, a chiller
bin has been placed on the site, presumably
to dispose of the carcasses of the kangaroos
as they are systematically eridicated
over the coming days…
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How you can help...
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