THE international animal welfare group that exposed the horrors of live sheep export and animal baiting in the greyhound industry has praised Mornington Peninsula Shire Council for taking a stand against the state government’s kangaroo harvesting program.
Animals Australia, known for its hard-hitting campaigns to end animal cruelty, said the councillors’ “courageous” public opposition to the slaughter of kangaroos was a good example of a council taking the lead to reflect its community’s values.
The council recently passed a motion to request the shire be excluded from the commercial kangaroo shooting industry – a move that would protect kangaroos and their joeys from being killed for profit.
Animals Australia’s director of development and global grants, Louise Bonomi, said that although local governments cannot change state-based wildlife policy and regulation, they can influence it by doing what the shire’s councillors have done – “taking a strong stand against activities that harm and kill wildlife in their shire, like the commercial kangaroo industry”.
Bonomi said the council had taken a “courageous” stand that some in the community were likely to be displeased with “as is the case when we do what is right rather than what is profitable”.
Beyond calling for kangaroos on the peninsula to be protected from the “kangaroo harvesting management plan”, the council also sought more accurate population counts rather than estimates, and regular competency tests for non-commercial shooters.
“My heartfelt thanks go to the councillors who made this admirable move, for advocating for – and celebrating – much needed change for kangaroos,” Bonomi said.
Local experts believe that there are around 2500 kangaroos left on the peninsula, confirmed by a citizen science count conducted in 2021. The state government and the Conservation Regulator issued lethal control permits for more than 300 eastern grey kangaroos in both 2020 and 2021.
Apart from being harvested for pet food and skins, the peninsula’s remaining kangaroo population is facing other major threats, including loss of protective habitat and increasing traffic.
Kangaroo advocate Mary Waterman said there were too many animals killed on the peninsula’s roads, while solar operated signs were needed in traffic such hot spots as Purves, Browns, Baldrys, Arthurs Seat and Cape Schanck roads (near Bushrangers Bay car park).
She said a kangaroo recently killed at Arthurs Seat and covered with camellia petals by a passer-by was a tragic sight, but one that proved there was strong community concern about local wildlife.
“It shows just how much people care and are upset by the sight of the many dead kangaroos on the side of the roads caused by cars hitting them here around Arthur’s Seat,” she said.
First published in the Mornington News – 1st August 2023
