BRUTAL and unethical killing of wildlife must stop, writes FIONA CORKE

The number of permits issued for kangaroo culling in Victoria has plummeted dramatically, based on a permits summary received under Freedom of Information by Greens MP Greg Barber last year.

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 Between 2009 and 2011 permits issued for Eastern Grey kangaroos toppled from 14,999 to 793 and the number of kangaroos destroyed under permit halved from 58,289 to 29,152.

These figures reflect that the perceived need to kill kangaroos is on the decline due to negative public opinion and changing attitudes in landowners.

The Victorian RSPCA told media late last year they would not support the commercial use of kangaroos in Victoria because once commercial drivers were in place, welfare drivers become secondary.

The killing of kangaroos and their joeys remains unmonitored and unsupervised in the field.

This is a sticking point for the already struggling kangaroo industry where welfare concerns over the inherent cruelty gains wider public awareness. Cruelty is inescapable in the culling-harvesting of kangaroos, including the brutal killing of pouch young.

As to the issue of shot kangaroos being left as waste, the real waste here is that protected Australian wildlife, kangaroos, are unnecessarily and unethically killed in the first place.

The State Government should put taxpayers' money to better use than legalising more cruelty.

  • Fiona Corke is a member of the Australian Society for Kangaroos