Two senior veterinarians have described the conduct of a mass cull of kangaroos, wallabies and pademelons on Tasmania’s Maria Island as “totally unacceptable” and a breach of animal welfare laws.
From today, Maria Island, off the state’s east coast, will be closed until July 11 while rangers shoot 400 animals to reduce overgrazing and avert over-population.
Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service insist a 2006 cull on Maria, a popular tourist destination featuring an award-winning eco-tourism operation, was conducted humanely by trained staff.
However, The Australian has obtained letters of complaint from a wildlife pathologist and a wildlife epidemiologist who examined animals after the 2006 cull. Both are scathing of the practices involved, describing animals left to long painful deaths because of poor shooting, as well as joeys being left to die of cold in their dead mothers’ pouches.
The evidence of both scientists may be used by animal welfare advocates to obtain a court injunction to halt this year’s cull.
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