Hopping Mad: Kangaroo Cull Before Big Auto Race Causes Outrage
140 eastern grey kangaroos have been shot days before race car drivers take off during Australia’s famous motorcar race. The annual V8 Supercar Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 race takes place October 8 through 11, 2009, at the Mount Panorama race track.
According to reports, the Bathurst Regional Council approved the kangaroo cull in order to ensure the safety of the drivers and spectators. The unpublicized cull was carried out under license from the New South Wales (NSW) National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Animal rights activists and environmentalists are outraged. Many of the culled kangaroos may have had joeys in their pouches at the time. The New South Wales Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said in a statement, “’The slaughter of 140 kangaroos and their joeys… for the sake of a motorcar race is a knee-jerk response that is not justified.”
Environmentalist Ray Mjadwesch said, “’It is ironic that Australia’s iconic wildlife has been shot and its young disposed of in preparation for an iconic international car race,’ he said, adding that fencing could have been erected to keep the animals out.”
But according to Mayor Paul Toole, other methods could not have been used due to the growth of the kangaroo population.
Several years ago, a kangaroo hopped onto the track and was filmed weaving in and out of the cars before escaping. Three years ago, a kangaroo was struck and killed in the race.
Eastern Grey Kangaroos
Eastern grey kangaroos, Macropus giganteus, are the heaviest marsupial in the world. Joey’s normally stay in its mama’s pouch for up to 11 months. The average lifespan of an eastern grey in captivity is 25 years while the average lifespan of the kangaroo in the wild is eight years. Eastern grey kangaroos are quite social and tend to live in small groups.
Eastern grey kangaroo photo Fir0002/Flagstaffotos
The pigs responsible for this should be absolutely ashamed of themselves, a total disgrace. Imagine if someone culled the cullers and disposed of their children? What’s the f’ing difference. If I ever meet one of these losers face to face, I’m going to tattoo an image of a dead baby kangaroo to his f’ing forehead. These tossers are nothing but low life deadbeats who can’t get a real job.
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Why all the fuss about a few roos being culled so that the poor drivers dont get injured during the race.
I wonder if all these CONCERNED people stop to consider that all the pet food lining the shelves in supermarkets is comprised mainly of KANGAROO MEAT and that the THIRD WEALTHIEST man in Australia owns V.I.P. PETFOODS.. That company slaughers literally THOUSANDS of roos each week.. No doubt the government is aware of such wholesale slaughter…The last time I wrote about the subject I was ridiculed…. I totally agree with you ” Disgusted” but only hope you aren’t feeding your own pets on roo meat..
Waa, waa, waa! Roos are at plague proportions, and until the day all you do-gooders actually get off your fat arses and see the damage they are doing, you’ll have NFI. Meh! It’s only 140!
Have you seen what happens when a roo gets hit by a vehicle and ends up inside said vehicle, still alive? No, I didn’t think so.
Maybe it’s time to get yourself beyond the suburbs and see what’s going on beyond your own little world.
So im guessing the people up in arms about this are also against any form of hunting, meat eating and pest control right?
@ Disgusted:
The fact that you see no difference between a pest and a human life really says a lot about you. Did your parents beat you as a child?
Hahaha, this is hilarious. This article is so biased I could cry, do you have any idea how much of a pest kangaroos are here? They are culled quite regularly, and there is NO guarantee that a fence could keep them out. And they’re not going to drug them and move them elsewhere, this isn’t even their natural habitat. They’ve just moved into the area and multiplied.
Boo Hoo is on the spot.
The primitive animals in this story are the idiots human beings.
For those who stand for a better environment just don’t waste time with idiots. There is nothing one can do against those ignorants. For the others the only way is to continue to show their best and beliefs. That would ultimately lead to progress and a society where human beings are better fit in the world that created them before they destroy it. For the sceptical just read “The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind” from Richard E. Leakey, Roger Lewin
“The price of freedom is an eternal vigilance”
Since white settlement roo populations have exploded. Dams and farming have provided roos with food and water that they naturally did not have. They now live in areas they did not previously live. They are a pest in some areas.
In the drought of 1999/2000 I shot about 1000 roos in a week or two. Why? because there was no water and they were all dying. Did I enjoy it? Of course not. Did I have a licence? No. Did I have a permit? No. Were they used for pet food? No. There was no meat on them.
They had got to such proportions, unchecked, in an environment that could not support them wihtout our dams, that when the water stopped, so did life. They were that poor that you could shoot one and the one next to it wouldn’t even get up to hop away. It just looked at you as if to say “kill me next please”
It wasn’t pleasant but that is how life goes in the real world, beyond the suburbs.
If you are totally against the destruction of any animal then that is fine. I think you are delusional to what keeps this earth spinning and the big plan and all, but go ahead have your opinion. But if you so much as fish one fish, or swat a fly, or have ever eaten meat, then shut the hell up.
The same people that yell save the whale have no problems eating a fish, just because a whale is cuter than a fish. Same here. Not many people have a problem getting mice out of their house one way or another, but when the mouse is a six foot red roo, it is paramount to murder. Get a life.
Should the pigs be culled, yes, the ferral pigs are in plague proportions just like the kangaroos. The biggest shame is the meat is wasted on pets. We eat pleanty of beef at McDonalds, why not McRoo