27th April 2007
EPA responds to community pressure to do Wacol Roo Count
Today Friends of Pooh Corner welcomes the decision by the EPA to actually count the Wacol kangaroos before a decision is made to shoot them. On Friday 27th April the EPA will conduct a count using helicopters.
However it is disappointing it took community outrage to expose the fact that the EPA did not know the size of the kangaroo population before the decision to shoot them. The Friends of Pooh Corner (FoPC) media update from Thursday 26th shows the obvious discrepancies in kangaroo numbers the EPA has previously presented to the public.
It is disappointing in this day and age a government department has had to be pushed by the community into doing the research (count the Wacol kangaroos) before killing kangaroos.
Friends of Pooh Corner completely disagrees with the statement made by the EPA media that animals are almost starving to death".
Ric Nattrass, wildlife expert, who was trained to assess marsupial body condition at the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service says the kangaroos at Pooh Corner are in very good health. He has assessed every kangaroo that has had access to that has been killed on Wacol Station Road.
"Any evidence of starving roos will show up immediately in the traffic victims." Ric Nattrass said.
"All that I have examined are in excellent condition. "
"A very large male had been killed on Wacol Station Road between Grindle Road Intersection and Airy Street. The body condition was excellent, but just how any driver could have killed such a large animal in a 60km/h zone remains a puzzle. Perhaps the 60kmh didn't apply to that driver! "
In relation to kangaroos being hit on Wacol Station Road, this points to the need to manage the traffic rather than the kangaroos, and also stop the kangaroos from getting to the road with fencing. A decrease in kangaroo population will not stop kangaroos from being hit. Wacol Station Road needs kangaroo exclusion fencing and underpasses to make it safe for both motorists and kangaroos.