Cruel Australia will Resort to Shooting Kangaroos to Deal with Population Issues

Again, a group taking a very limited view of how to deal with an issue. Going straight to the “let’s kill it away” proposal.

Article:

Kangaroos in the firing line in Australia

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090317/ap_on_re_au_an/as_australia_shooting_kangaroos_3

By ROD McGUIRK, Associated Press Writer Rod Mcguirk, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 17, 7:48 am ET
Kangaroos are seen in a field outside of government house in Canberra, Australia AP – Kangaroos are seen in a field outside of government house in Canberra, Australia Oct. 23, 2006. An official …

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia's capital is plagued by too many kangaroos, and the best solution is to shoot them, an official said Tuesday. Horrified conservationists vowed to demonstrate if authorities followed through.

Canberra has among the densest populations of the common eastern gray kangaroo in Australia, and they are regularly seen hopping in parks and other places around the city.

The kangaroo is a national emblem of Australia, but it can also be a nuisance. The animals munching grass and shrubs around Canberra are degrading their own habitats and adding to threats posed to rare insects and lizards.

Kangaroos hopping across streets are a frequent traffic hazard in the city, and they can pose other problems — as one family in the area discovered last week when a confused and panicked kangaroo leapt through a bedroom window and bounded around the house until it was thrust out the front door.

Jon Stanhope, the chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory where Canberra is located, released a draft plan Tuesday describing how his government would reduce numbers the city's kangaroo population by shooting them — a method that has long divided this community of 330,000 people.

The plan does not say how many kangaroos should be killed.

Supporters say the absence of more effective biological controls leaves shooting as the most humane way to control kangaroo numbers.

"There are probably more eastern gray kangaroos in Canberra now than any time in the last 100 years," Stanhope told reporters. "I think we have perhaps tried too hard not to cull."

The population of kangaroos in the area is hard to determine because the animals move frequently, according to the availability of grass and water.

The territory's government has been involved since 1998 in research to develop an oral contraceptive for kangaroos but none is yet effective in the wild.

Stanhope said the research to develop humane alternatives to shooting would be encouraged.

The report ruled out trapping and trucking kangaroos to where they are less abundant because the process was expensive, unproven and illogical given there was no threat to the species' survival.

Pat O'Brien, president of the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, warned that authorities would be met by protests if they tried to shoot kangaroos.

"The whole thing is a propaganda exercise to try to get public support for killing kangaroos," O'Brien said. Kangaroo number were high, "but there's certainly not too many of them."

The killing of 400 kangaroos out of 600 at an abandoned military site in Canberra last year triggered several heated protests.

Those kangaroos were killed with lethal injections because firearms were judged to be too dangerous at the site, which was within Canberra's city limits.

Recent government surveys said some 17 percent of Canberra drivers had reported colliding with a kangaroo at sometime in the past, though 82 percent of respondents considered it important that wild kangaroos continue to live in the city.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Signs Bills Allowing the Purchase of Dead Kangaroo Products and Semi-Automatic Pistols

Hum…seems the two have something in common. Sad but true, he’s a proponent of violence and unnecessary killing.

Article:

Governor allows kangaroo products in flurry of bill actions

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/431194.html

By Kevin Yamamura - Bee Capitol Bureau

Published 4:36 pm PDT Saturday, October 13, 2007

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed bills legalizing the purchase of kangaroo products and requiring new semi-automatic pistols to include an identifying microstamp, and he vetoed a proposal to provide college financial aid to illegal immigrants, his office announced Saturday.

The gun legislation, Assembly Bill 1471 by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, will make California the first state in the nation to require manufacturers to include technology in semi-automatic pistols that stamps the make, model and serial number on each cartridge fired. The requirement takes effect in January 2010 and was largely backed by Democrats and opposed by Republicans in the Legislature.

"While I appreciate and understand that this technology is not without limitations, I am signing this bill to provide law enforcement with an additional tool for solving crimes committed with semi-automatic handguns in California," Schwarzenegger wrote in a signing message.

The Republican governor vetoed Senate Bill 1 by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, which would have given undocumented immigrants access to community college fee waivers and other financial aid. The bill excluded those students from the state's competitive grant program after Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar proposal last year.

But in his veto message, Schwarzenegger again said he is concerned the proposal would place an "additional strain" on the state budget. He also noted that undocumented students already qualify for an in-state tuition rate.

The kangaroo proposal, SB 880 by Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, drew intense opposition from animal rights organizations who decried the manner in which the Australian marsupials are killed. But California retailers selling kangaroo soccer shoes said they faced a disadvantage because online firms based in 47 other states can legally sell such products.

Though he does not own kangaroo shoes, Schwarzenegger is an aficionado of animal-skin boots, such as those made from alligator or crocodile, which he also removed from a state list of banned animal products last year.

"Many good products are made from kangaroos harvested legally under Australian law and the federal Endangered Species Act and those products should be allowed to be on the California market," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. "Importantly, this bill allows California to continue to prohibit the sale of products made from species of kangaroos that are listed as threatened or endangered under the federal endangered species act."

Schwarzenegger signed SB 490 by Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, to ban trans fats from foods sold in vending machines or cafeterias at public schools in California starting in July 2009.

The governor also took action on several consumer bills. He signed SB 220 by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, requiring bottled water companies to cite the origin of their product. Another signed Corbett bill, SB 250, will allow consumers to receive the cash value for gift cards with balances less than $10.

But he vetoed AB 779 by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, to restrict businesses from storing sensitive payment data. The bill also sought to require companies to give consumers extensive information when a security breach occurs. It came as a response to the 2005-06 theft of more than 45 million credit card numbers from a T.J. Maxx and Marshall's database.

"Big business, hackers and ID thieves won today and consumers and common sense lost," Jones said in a statement. "I'm shocked and disappointed that the governor thinks our personal information should be left out in the open for identity thieves and hackers to pilfer."

In his veto message, Schwarzenegger wrote that the credit card industry has already established security protocols for the storage of payment data.

"This issue and the data security requirements found in this bill will drive up the costs of compliance, particularly for small businesses," Schwarzenegger added.

Egomaniac David Beckham's And Los Angeles Galaxy Push To Legalise The Importation And Sale Of Kangaroo Skins In California

I guess vanity and too much money just isn’t enough for glam boy Beckham and his new glam team the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Article:

Beckham in push for roo skin boots

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/
0,22606,21829059-910,00.html

PETA HELLARD, LOS ANGELES

June 01, 2007 02:15am


DAVID Beckham's new U.S. soccer team is behind a bid to legalise the importation and sale of kangaroo skins in California - so soccer players can wear boots made from the marsupials' leather.

After years of lobbying by sportswear giant adidas, the California Senate voted this week to end California's 37-year import ban on kangaroo products.

The Senate kangaroo Bill has pitted the Los Angeles Galaxy and CD Chivas USA soccer teams against animal rights activists.

The Bill passed in the Senate - after four years of failed efforts - would allow a kangaroo product to be imported and sold in California if the species were not otherwise protected by laws in the U.S. and abroad.

The Bill must still be approved by the Assembly and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to come into force.

Of the 55 species of kangaroos in Australia, six are commercially harvested and exported, including red kangaroos and eastern and western gray kangaroos.

Animal activists are fighting the proposal, which they say will lead to the deaths of endangered roos because hunting is done at night so it is hard to identify the exact species.

Lauren Ornelas, spokeswoman for animal rights organisation Viva USA, said Adidas had been relentless in spending about $530,000 to promote the Bill.

"Kangaroos are wildlife, not shoes," she said.

"Adidas needs to get in step with the times and use synthetic materials."

LA Galaxy president Alexi Lalas said California's law deprived his team.

"It is unfair to have these products freely available for commercial purchase in all of the other 49 states and not here," he said.