They’re only Kangaroos

..Canberra just needs to expand, so it is easier to just get rid of the native kangaroos.

Katy Gallagher, ACT Chief Minister for Canberra and not much else.

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Katy’s blood lusting for another 2,000 Canberra Kangaroos

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Katy Gallagher‘s ACT Government want to kill off thousands of pesky kangaroos so that Canberra can develop and expand its housing further into kangaroo feeding grounds.

<< The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal today has approved Gallagher’s government licences for kangaroos to be culled at seven sites around Canberra.

Appeal President Bill Stefaniak and Senior Members Allan Anforth and Adrian Davey varied some of the licences so that only 1244 kangaroos could be shot, not the 1455 originally approved the Conservator of Flora and Fauna. >>

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[Ed:   So Stefaniak has justified that 211 fewer kangaroos seems probably about right. Kill the rest?]

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<< The seven reserves will be closed at Midday on Thursday to allow culling to take place before the end of July.    Animal liberationists have vowed to try and disrupt the shooting of kangaroos in ACT nature reserves after a tribunal approved a scaled-back culling operation..

Carolyn Drew:

“Activists will protest at all seven sites but concentrate much of their efforts on the Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve where a licence has been granted for 740 kangaroos to be culled.  We will focus on very intensely on that particular reserve. But the other reserves will also have teams of activists who sit around the various gates so we wait, watch and then we take action as needed.

Many more kangaroos than the 1,244 could die because the figure did not take into account small dependant animals that would be orphaned.  “It’ll be within the range of closer to 2,000 that they’ll end up killing if they manage to kill that many.” 2,000 that they’ll end up killing if they manage to kill that many.”

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The Australian Society for Kangaroos launched action in the tribunal in June to stop the cull.

The Tribunal accepted evidence from government ecologist Don Fletcher that an appropriate number of kangaroos per hectare was between 0.6 and 1.5, which The Government aimed to have one kangaroo per hectare. But the tribunal decided that the cull should aim to leave about 1.5 kangaroos per hectare.

The Australian Society for Kangaroos expert witness, Raymond Mjadwesch, had told the tribunal that it was ecologically appropriate for several more kangaroos per hectare to live on the reserves.

Mr Mjadwesch also challenged Dr Fletcher’s estimates of the number of kangaroos living in the reserves.  But the tribunal preferred Dr Fletcher’s evidence over the evidence given by Mr Mjadwesch.

Outside the tribunal, ACT Parks and Conservation Service director Daniel Iglesias said as much of the cull would be completed as possible before a July 31 deadline.

“We originally had an eight week period and now we’ve only got a period of four weeks or so. So we will do our best to do what we can with the time that we have available to us,’’ Mr Iglesias said.  Kangaroo culling only takes place in the ACT during the colder months to reduce the chances of younger animals being killed.

Fiona Corke, a former Neighbours star who is president of the Australian Society for Kangaroos, said she was disappointed the cull would go ahead.  “We are disappointed that the cull will be proceeding but we are also encouraged by the fact that the tribunal has recognised that number of kangaroos should be and will be reduced,’’ she said.

Ms Corke declined to comment on whether her group would join protest efforts to disrupt the cull.  >>

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[Source:  ‘Activists vow to disrupt shooting as roo cull approved by tribunal’,  20130710, by Peter Jean, Chief Assembly Reporter, The Canberra Times, ^http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/activists-vow-to-disrupt-shooting-as-roo-cull-approved-by-tribunal-20130710-2ppeg.html]

 

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Eastern Grey Kangaroos were around Canberra before Canberra was thought of,

before developers profited from housing sprawl into kangaroo feeding grounds,

before the ACT government fenced them in so they overbred.

Now Katy Gallagher brands kangaroos not Native, but a pest,

just like British colonials treated Aborigines up until the ^1928 Coniston Massacre.

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<< Known as the “Bush Capital”, Canberra has many nature reserves, but the present Legislative Assembly approved the slaughter – during June 2012 – of 2,000 kangaroos on these reserves.

Although the government-ordered slaughter has now ended for this year, the government fell short of its quota, with ‘only’ 1,154 killed, and has threatened to raise the quota for next season to make up for the shortfall.

However,  the joeys aren’t counted in this number – as if they don’t ‘count’ or matter – so we’ll never know how many babies were murdered – by decapitation, bashed in heads – and other brutality – as the officially approved method. >>

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Monday May 19, 2008, government contractors started herding and slaughtering kangaroos on a former naval base in Canberra.

By May 29,  514 kangaroos were dead (including all in this photo).

[Source:  Day Drew, Warning: this site contains images of animal suffering that may disturb some viewers.

^http://www.kangaroolives.com/]

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I have several soul-destroying photos of the killing fields’ burial pits filled up with adult kangaroos and tiny joeys. The photos – including the one (below) – and the following description of events from those in the field were what drove me to start this petition.

<< “Unearthing the slaughter in Canberra, June 3rd:  In the early hours of Sunday morning, activists uncovered a large mass burial pit at the Kama Nature reserve containing an estimated 300 or more slain kangaroo bodies.

Evidence was discovered amidst a slurry of mud and blood, illustrating unethical and illegal practices including throat shots, partially severed joeys and mature kangaroos with smashed heads. Amidst the twisted pile of discarded iconic Australians, a mature buck stands amongst his once proud mob – gunned down by faceless ignorance in Australia’s Capital.” >>

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.[Source:  ‘Stop the Slaughter of Kangaroos in Canberra’, 2013, a petition by Honour Leigh, ^http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/stop-the-slaughter-of-kangaroos-in-canberra]

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Canberra’s 100 years of ecological slaughter to justify a ‘Bush Capital‘

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2013:  Katy Gallagher wants to slaughter 1,455 kangaroos this year in Canberra nature reserves

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2012:  Katy’s Cull included 407 joeys slaughtered

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2009 – 2012,  3,000 kangaroos of Canberra were slaughered in various so-called ‘Nature Parks’.

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[Source:  ‘ACT kangaroos live another day’, ^http://www.al-act.org/]

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Katy, wasn’t your 2011 massacre bad enough?

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<<More than three thousand kangaroos will be shot over the next month as part of the ACT Territory’s annual cull, which starts tomorrow. ACT Parks and Conservation, which oversees the contractors conducting the cull, is this year targeting 3427 kangaroos on six sites in the Canberra Nature Park. The sites that will be closed to the public while the cull is underway are Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, Goorooyaroo Nature Reserve, Mount Painter Nature Reserve, Callam Brae Nature Reserve, Jerrabomberra West Nature Reserve, Kama Nature Reserve and unleased territory land adjacent to Kama Nature Reserve.

ACT Parks and Conservation Service manager Daniel Iglesias said this morning that kangaroo numbers continued to rise despite the Government’s Kangaroo Management Plan culling program. “The cull of up to 3427 kangaroos is needed to maintain kangaroo populations at appropriate levels to protect the integrity of ecosystems, several of which contain endangered flora and fauna,” he said. “The numbers to be culled have been based on kangaroo counts in each location. “Ensuring the grasslands and woodlands are not overgrazed will protect threatened species and ecosystems, provide habitat for creatures such as ground-feeding birds, prevent excessive soil loss and maintain sustainable numbers of kangaroos.”

Mr Iglesias said the kangaroos would be humanely culled by experienced marksmen. “The cull will be conducted according to a strict Code of Practice that has the endorsement of all relevant authorities including the RSPCA. “Rangers and security staff have been engaged to patrol areas to ensure the safety of the public with warning signs also being installed at all entry points to the reserves,” he said. The ACT Government Vet would conduct spot checks during the program to ensure compliance with the relevant code of practice.>>

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[Source:  Canberra Times, ^http://www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.com/CanberraKangarooKill.html]

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What about 2012,  running out of kangaroo meat pet food?

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Wildlife Slaughter Sponsor

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<< More than 2,000 eastern grey kangaroos will be culled across nine reserves across the ACT over the next three weeks.

Nine nature reserves will be closed from Tuesday until June 12 to allow expert shooters to complete the cull.   The reserves include Callum Brae, Crace, Goorooyaroo, Jerrabomberra, Kama, Mt Painter, Mulligans Flat, The Pinnacle and Wanniassa Hills.

Daniel Iglesias from Parks and Conservation says the high number of roos is damaging the environment.

“We’re fortunate in the ACT that we have really good quality natural environment so close to where we live,” he said.  “So it’s a park service intention to manage kangaroo numbers so that they do not degrade their environment.”

The cull is part of the ACT Government’s Kangaroo Management Plan and will be conducted according to a strict code of practice endorsed by the RSPCA.

“We have gone out to almost all the areas in which we are going to cull and we have taken an estimate of the total numbers,” Mr Iglesias.  “So in those nine areas that we are focusing on we’re looking at removing animals which may represent 10 – 15 per cent of the total population.”  >>

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Wildlife Slaughter Sponsor

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[Source:  ‘Canberra roo cull begins, parks closed’, 20120521, ^http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-21/canberra-roo-cull-begins/4023910]

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Ed:   Sufficient power, means and justification can achieve anything one desires. 

Anything!

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The Nankin Massacre of 300,000 unarmed Chinese men women and children by the Japanese military on December 13, 1937.

Because they were in the way of Japanese plans for economic expansion into Manchuria

It is a territorial thing. 

What’s the moral difference Katy Gallagher?

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