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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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