Dear Mr Rudd,
Despite having missed, until now, all news of the mass kangaroo slaughter that took place on the former naval base in Canberra during May 2008, I still wanted to contact you to put in writing how appalled I feel at this event.
Photographs taken of the kangaroos in the days prior to the cull show them in apparent good health, with no signs of starvation, illness or any other legitimate reason for their destruction.
I gather the location was allegedly home to a rare species of grasshopper, a golden sun moth and a species of plant known as Ginninderra Peppercress, all endangered by the kangaroos. The cull contractors apparently took no precautions to preserve indigenous wildlife and left the site in a severely damaged state thanks to their vehicles. If these species truly existed there, this is disgraceful.
Translocating the kangeroos was accepted as an ethical, whole-ecology approach - best for the kangaroos and the indigenous wildlife - and moves were underway to arrange this, but this approach was forcibly scrapped by ACT Conservator Maxine Cooper.
This leads me to wonder whose interests were being served by the cull. The violent death of more than 500 animals is horrifying, and more so when the justifications for this appear weak and unsubstantiated.
I am no "bleeding heart" bunny hugger, and I cannot bear overly sentimental approaches towards animals and the environment. Tough decisions are sometimes necessary. But nothing I have seen, read or heard so far has convinced me that the decision to press ahead with this cull was necessary. Sentiment is one thing; compassion is something else altogether, and many decisions would be better made with a healthy dose of it.
Yours sincerely
"Est"
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