to cull or not to cull …

I’ve just finished work on a short film that was shot here in Canberra, looking at the Eastern Grey Kangaroo populations around town and in the nearby mountains. My background in wildlife care did not involve kangaroos much at all because, unfortunately, Canberra is the one place in Australia where the rehabilitation of Eastern Grey Kangaroos is prohibited. The ecologists and wildlife managers of Canberra feel that the roo numbers in this area are above the carrying capacity of the land and because of this, the populations are regularly culled. Being able to explore the kangaroo world through this film was a dream opportunity and the perfect way for me to fill out my knowledge gap. I so enjoyed the production of this piece and the coming to know of a very charming and peaceful species.

Within days of finishing filming (about three weeks ago) we found out that the government had just scheduled another cull. The plan this time was for the government to shut down 8 reserves around Canberra to allow a group of trained marksmen to come through and cull 1850 kangaroos within the ACT. Even though I had been aware of these culls for years, the news of this one hit me hard. Having had spent so much time lately immersed in our local kangaroo communities, it all felt infinitely more personal and infinitely more real.

Because of my background in wildlife care, I am sadly all too familiar with what is involved in ending animal life. At the wildlife clinic here in Canberra where I used to work we had on hand body bags to hold the bodies of the unfortunate creatures who did not survive their illnesses or injuries. The bags were green and tied at the top with a black plastic fastener. After hearing about the upcoming cull, all I could think about were these bags – 1850 of these bags. The image haunted me and after hearing last night that that the cull has now been completed*, I’m haunted even more.

The most difficult thing about this whole issue, for me anyway, is that I’m horribly conflicted about it. There is a major debate happening over whether or not these culls should happen and I have been involved in wildlife organizations on both sides of the debate. The pro-cull people say that though kangaroos are endemic to Australia and have lived in harmony with the land for tens of millions of years, they are at unhealthy levels in some areas now because of the introduction of artificial water sources. Kangaroos breed in response to water so in places with a lot of dams, etc. the numbers increase and can over graze the land, some of which is critical habitat for a couple of endangered species, the charming earless dragon amongst them.

Another major argument from the pro-cull people is that there is a significant risk to human life when the roo numbers increase because of the increases in car collisions that coincide with increases in roo numbers. It only takes one drive through Canberra to understand this side of the story. I probably see two dead roos a day on the sides of roads in this town and kangaroos are not an animal that take a long time to degrade so it’s usually the last night’s fatalities I see each day. NRMA, Australia’s leading car insurer, reports that about 600 ACT residents a year place claims due to collisions with kangaroos – and of course there are certainly plenty of drivers having collisions with roos that are not insured by NRMA, also.

The alternative perspective on the roo debate is being led by animal activists and wildlife carers. Because these people are those who work most intimately with kangaroos, I feel it is essential we respect and listen to their point of view. Bob Irwin, in fact, is one of the tireless anti-cull crusaders. This group makes the argument that kangaroo numbers in Canberra and around the country are actually not above the carrying capacity of the land and that, in fact, the Australian environment requires a large kangaroo population to keep the grasslands constantly grazed to protect them from bushfire. They also make the very valid argument that when the culls take place, what isn’t considered are the social structures of the populations and that, in particular, when alpha males are removed from a population, the balance of the community is jeopardized which can have dire consequences. I have seen for myself the important role males play in a kangaroo community. The alphas regularly patrol their communities, making sure all the females and young are taken care of. To remove them would put them all in jeopardy, particularly the females and their young who would have to fight off the constant and brutal advances by subsequent males.

I could go on and on here about the arguments on either side of the coin but the point I was hoping to make through this story is that coming up with any kind of humane solution to this problem will have to involve a coming together of minds. This issue extends much father than Canberra and is an important economic, cultural, environmental, and animal welfare issue for the entire country.

Myself and two of my closest friends, Jessica and Caitlin (who are also Australian wildlife professionals), are organizing a formal discussion/debate on this issue to be held in Canberra. We will be releasing information soon but for anyone, in the mean time, who would like to get involved please send an email to roodebate@hotmail.com

* 4/7/2010 – already this article seems to be stirring up conservation. A friend just called me to say that the Canberra times just reported (I am looking for a copy of the article, if anyone has one, please send it my way) that the cull actually ended up killing 3,000 kangaroos rather than the 1850 that they were aiming for because they had to also kill the joeys of any females that had joeys and because we have had a lot of rain over the past few months, most of the females seemed to have had joeys. As horrifying as this is, it is a better situation than happens often in the commercial industry where joeys are sometimes left to die of stress myopathy, starvation, or predation or are brutaly clubbed .. but it still sucks. Again, I have absolutely no intention to make those involved with the cull into murderers because I know for a fact, the intention behind the cull was to protect the environment but I do believe there is a better way.