THE installation of one-way gates is part of the release plan drawn up for the hundreds of kangaroos trapped on a private Cape Schanck property.
The kangaroos have been on the property since late September 2021 and appear to have literally dodged a bullet following the voluntary surrender of a licence to shoot by the property’s manager.
The plan to return the kangaroos to the neighbouring Greens Bush section of Mornington Peninsula National Park has been drawn up by community groups, animal welfare groups and concerned neighbours (“Volunteer call to help ‘save’ kangaroos” The News 25/1/22).
The one-way gate is described by group spokesperson Mary Waterman as providing “a safe and non-intrusive way of releasing the kangaroos, unlike the suggestions of herding them with quad bikes”.
She said talks about releasing the kangaroos were continuing with the Mornington Peninsula Shire, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and the land manager “but no action”.
“Save the Mornington Peninsula Kangaroos group has been told that approval to release the kangaroos back into Greens Bush, their natural habitat, must be sought from DELWP before this can happen,” Ms Waterman said.
“We do not understand why this is so difficult. We have offered to assist with their release, provide one-way gates, whatever is required for them to go back to where they live.
“Is this just DELWP bureaucracy or stalling tactics?
“As time goes by the kangaroos are becoming increasingly distressed and their health compromised. The grasses on the property are not their natural feed and there is minimal shelter from extreme weather.”
Details: email Peninsula.Kangaroos@gmail.com, facebook.com/groups/477784167297525 or penkan.elloria.dev
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 1 February 2022
