WILDLIFE advocates are confident the fate of hundreds of kangaroos trapped at Cape Schanck is closer to being resolved after a meeting with Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning officers on Wednesday.
Mary Waterman from Save Mornington Peninsula Kangaroos said members concerned about the safety of the kangaroos, which were behind a locked gate on private property and could not escape, believed Delwp seemed responsive to their calls for the kangaroos to be released.
Ms Waterman said a permit application to control the wildlife through lethal means had been rejected, and SMPK was hopeful that Delwp would now follow it up with a request to the property manager to open the gates or install one-way gates for the kangaroos to disperse naturally.
She said the measures suggested should have been conducted in the first place and are stated in DELWP kangaroo and wallaby management guidelines.
SMPKs Craig Thomson said too many species were being lost in Australia, and the group wanted Delwp to fulfil its obligations to protect wildlife.
The kangaroos have been on the property for more than three months and are becoming stressed, and MPK says it will not give up the fight to get them back to safety.
Ms Waterman said Greens Bush was the kangaroos’ home, and opening the one-way gates to allow them back was the best option.
“That’s still what we hope for, so I am pushing that with Delwp, and hopefully we will get an answer soon,” she said.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 22 March 2022
