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How do we as Australians condone what happened at Belconnen ACT
It is too late now to save these kangaroos. It is not too late to save others. Please do what you can. View for yourself the images of the slaughter and make your own decision.
"The Greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way it treats its animals" - M. Ghandi
The Belconnen kangaroo kill went ahead 18th May 2008, and finished on the 2nd June.
The Contact details of those responsible are below:
April 2008 Updates
Endangered Red-Legged Pademelon joey in care
Black- Striped wallaby joey in care
February 2008 Updates
Black- Striped wallaby threatened species
Platypus
in care
December 2008 Update
Update on Red-Necked wallaby found alone covered in ticks
Video clip of Red Necked wallaby interacting with her joey
Native Wildlife & Rodenticides: A Deadly Combination
Why
do native animals need to be brought to registered Wildlife carers?
Reality
of wildlife caring
We
have created a new page to show the reality of wildlife
caring, it is not all nice and cuddly, it can also be pain
and heartache, most injuries are as result of injuries sustained
due to a variety of factors that confront the animals living
in the modern Australian landscape.
From
road injuries to domestic animal attacks, the Australian
native animals are having a hard time out there, hopefully
some of these images will show you what we as carers see
all the time. Please be advised
that some of these images are disturbing and if you are not comfortable with graphic images we suggest
you read some of the other stories throughout the site. PAGE LINK HERE
ANIWARMER now available through Wildlife Mountain
Poem
by Frederick Wallace Ulyatt
Visits from released animals
Visits
from released animals can be a wonderful experience, this  female
Red Neck wallaby came for a visit on our property last week. As you
may be able to see her pouch is full, and it will not be long before
a joey will stick it's head out of the pouch for a look at the world.
Her joey at foot was with
her, seen here behind a log, inquisitive, wondering why they had
ventured close to human contact.
News
from 
Monday 19th March 2007
Kangaroos
The drought has hit kangaroo populations across Central Australia,
with numbers hitting their lowest level for more than 28years. Researchers
believe that it could take two to three years of good rains before
numbers increase. Department of Environment and Heritage ecologist
Glenn Shimmin said drought conditions across the nation had contributed
to the decline. "Certainly, numbers are down significantly at
the moment but the decline's been over the last four years,"
Dr Shimmin told The Australian.
Dr Shimmin said the low numbers meant there was just as little for
pastoralists to feed stock. "If kangaroos are struggling, you
can bet your bottom dollar the sheep are also struggling," he
said. The department has been counting kangaroo numbers in South Australia
since 1978, covering most of the state in aerial surveys over a two-week
period each August. At the time of the survey, there were about 395,000
western grey kangaroos - down from more than 420,000 in 2004 - and
782,000 red kangaroos - down from close to one million. While kangaroo
numbers generally increase after winter rains, Dr Shimmin said rainfall
had been low for several years and said it would take at least two
to three years of good winter rains for population numbers to again
increase. *Australian, March 13, 2007
Wildlife volunteers across Victoria are becoming increasingly concerned
over a spate of vicious, illegal shootings that have left kangaroos
and other animals with horrific injuries. Three ``killing for fun''
incidents occurred in the past month in the Wombat State Forest, near
Daylesford, at Clarkefield, near Sunbury, and at Gisborne. In the
Wimmera, kangaroos, emus and wallabies were the targets in a recent
spate of seven illegal killings. Victoria Police Wimmera Regional
Firearms Officer, Sen-Constable Alan Pignataro, said: ``There has
been a growing trend of people spotlighting on private and public
land, including state forests and parks.'' In the Ballarat Magistrates'
Court this month, a man was fined $1500 after admitting to the illegal
shooting of two eastern grey kangaroos.
Sue Anderson, of Wildlife Victoria, was called out after the Gisborne
shooting and was alerted to a female roo with the front half of its
face blown off.
Ms Anderson found five other dead kangaroos in the area, one of which
had a joey in its pouch, which she was forced to put down because
it was too young to survive. A big male had both hind legs cut off
and others had chest and shoulder injuries.Under Department of Sustainability
and Environment laws, kangaroo shooters require a permit, must remove
all dead animals and should shoot at the head. ``Whoever did this
had broken all the rules by firing body shots and not ensuring any
wounded animals were finished off,'' Ms Anderson said. *Sunday Herald
Sun
Monday 20th July 2006
Pademelon's
Animal welfare groups have
rejected Tasmanian Government suggestions
that shooting wallabies on King Island may be more humane than poisoning
them. The groups hope to block the state-endorsed plan to kill and
export wallabies on the island when a Federal Court hearing begins
on Monday. Primary Industries Minister David Llewellyn says shooting
wallabies on the island is an important step to finding sustainable
and humane alternatives to 1080 poison. Pat O'Brien, from the Australian
Wildlife Protection Association, says that it is irrelevant because
the Government does not plan to phase out 1080 until about 2015.
"This is a three-year plan so they'll still be using 1080 on
the island," he said. "They'll still be trying to sell
the meat from wallabies who may have ingested 1080 poison, and still
be in the meat. "They're going to sell that for people to eat
so the whole issue of 1080 is just a distraction. "The issue
is that these animals are found nowhere else in the world."
*ABC
The
legal slaughter of Kangaroos and Wallabies in Australia
By Susanne Ulyatt
We have tried as much as possible to stay
out of politics on this site, it is however hard to stay silent,
when you know what is taking place in a country such as Australia.
It is considered the largest wildlife massacre this planet has
ever seen, and it is all legal.
In years past other parts of the world
have lost species of wildlife due to exploitation, be it sport,
food or export. In years gone past it was done with ignorance,
that cannot be said for what is happening here today, it is done
knowingly and with eyes wide open as to the future of the survival
of the species.
The kangaroo is legally culled
every year to preserve crops. But according to CSIRO research
there is little relationship between Kangaroos (and Wallabies)
and destruction of commercial crops, Kangaroos do not eat commercially
grown grains and crops because it is not their natural diet, they
prefer bush foods and grasses found in the natural landscape.
Kangaroos are killed for meat export for
both human and pet consumption as well as products such as sports
shoes. And yet Kangaroos are part of Australia’s national
symbol.
Australian tourism advertising
overseas usually shows kangaroos, but is considered by farmers and
the government as a “pest” (2003. Gellatley)
A license to cull can be asked for and
received over the phone, with no monitoring of numbers, no monitoring
of how many was in fact killed, or by what methods.
It is believed that Australian wildlife
is a renewable resource, and if managed in an ecologically sustainable
manner, wildlife can provide a perpetual source of economic benefits
for all Australians.
Yet since the settlement of
Europeans in Australia just over 200 years ago 18 species of mammals
have become extinct (that is 50% of the overall loss worldwide).
45 species are threatened with extinction, 6 species of macropod's
(kangaroos and wallabies) have become extinct, 7 are classed as
endangered and 10 as vulnerable, 9 species are considered abundant,
and they are killed in huge numbers every year.
Let us not forget when white man arrived they were all abundant,
none extinct or vulnerable (2003. Gellatley).
Personally I have to question the
“sustainability” of this renewable resource.
The native animals in this country have
evolved here over a very long time, well before white man arrived,
and they have managed to survive rather well without our intervention,
or “culling for their own good”, they have managed
to survive droughts, floods and bush fires. They cannot however
survive mans destruction of habitat, and killing for profit. Our
government tells us that it is all being done in the best interest
of the animals.
The Kangaroo has a very complex
social structure. It is imperative that the structure remains intact
for the species survival in the future, yet it is being deliberately
destroyed every time a shooter goes out to get his night’s
quota.
A shooter is payed very little
for each Kangaroo, as the usable meat is only a fraction of the
whole animal. It is therefore understandable he or she will aim
for the largest animal, unfortunately the largest is also the hierarchy
of the group, they are the guardian of the mob, they will ensure
the females are not being harassed by the younger males, and that
the gene pool is always carried forward with the strongest genes.
No young female will be molested by a group of younger males, whilst
the older dominant male is in charge. Take the dominant male out
of the picture, and you have no rules, no order in that society.
That is what happens every time the shooters aim for the largest
animal in the mob.
Females that are much too young become
mothers, the pouch is too small for the joey to develop properly,
the gene pool is no longer carried forward with the strongest
males genes, and the survival of the species on the long term
is in grave danger.
Some commercial shooters will say “
there is only scrap” left in some areas, meaning there are
no large animals left in the mobs.Yet
every year the quotas get bigger.
Australia has just come through,
and some parts are still going through one of the worst droughts
this country has seen for a long time, yet the quotas are still
in place, and in some areas there is even new licenses given out
for large numbers to be shot.
even though the number of animals is down by 50% due to drought
and recent bush fires.
Most Australians have never
seen a kangaroo or wallaby in the wild, unless as road kill, and
I sincerely doubt their chances in the future. When I read and hear
the statement “ All Australian wildlife is protected”
I have to ask how and by whom.
Become involved, let
the Australian government know this is not acceptable in this day
and age.
For more information please visit the
Internet Site www.savethekangaroo.com
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