Wildlife Bytes 22/6/10

Wildlife MiniBytes

Canberra Kangaroo Kill

The Canberra Times is running a poll on whether the ACT kangaroo cull is necessary. Go to http://www.canberratimes.com.au to comment. The poll is at the bottom left of the page. As of this morning the Poll was 25.5% supported the kill, and 74.55 opposed the kill. Local activists are trying to monitor the killing, but with $5000 dollar fines for entering the closed reserves....its not easy. Local groups are taking whatever actions they feel comfortable with. We are also taking other steps to ensure the whole World knows how shameful and dysfunctional the ACT Government is. Meanwhile we understand the kangaroo killing violates the Article 12 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Animal Rights which states that "every action that causes the death of a lot of wild animals is genocide, that is a crime against the species." According to Article 4 of the Declaration: "all animals belonging to a wild species have the right to live free in their natural environment, and have the right to reproduce. Each deprivation of freedom, even for educational purposes, is in opposition to this right." Reports on the progress of the Canberra kangaroo kill are further down this email, and we have just added two new web pages about the Canberra kangaroo kill to the kangaroo protection website at http://www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.com/page-map.html *WPAA

Dingoes

Scientists have tested the intelligence of Australia's native dog for the first time and the results put domestic animals to shame. Tests on dingoes in Victoria show that they completed a standard challenge much faster than domesticated dogs and without any help from humans. The lead researcher says the results show that dingoes are very smart animals and that they should be better protected. *read More.. http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2928438.htm The World Today

Locusts

Landholders across southern Australia are preparing for one of the worst locust plagues in nearly 40 years. Soaking rain across inland Australia has provided ideal conditions for the noxious insect. Farmers who had their crops decimated by the locusts in April are now preparing for another generation, expected to inflict even worse damage. One plague locust can lay 500 eggs and farmers in three states - Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia - are waiting anxiously for those eggs to hatch. *ABC Read more... http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/15/2927492.htm

Fourteen major locust swarms have been destroyed as plague numbers develop in the Barcaldine area of western Queensland. If numbers build high enough, they have the potential to wipe out boom crops growing on the back of drought-breaking autumn floods. Barcaldine grazier John Chandler said yesterday locusts were so thick at his property, they were like a dust storm. "I'm in awe of just the physical numbers of the things ... you'd never count them," he said. They are the worst Mr Chandler has seen in his 58 years in the region. *Courier Mail Read more... http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/plagues-hit-states-west/story-e6freoof-1225880098040

Kangaroos

Queensland farming lobby group, Agforce has set up a Macropod Advisory Group to investigate how to sustainably harvest kangaroos. In an ABC radio interview yesterday, Qulipie grazier and Agforce's President of Sheep & Wool Stephen Tully outlined how exactly this group proposes the industry should move "forward". Amongst the mistruths and exaggerations being uttered by this farmer came the proposal that juvenile (baby) kangaroos be targeted by the kangaroo industry for their superior meat. Below is a section of the interview: http://candobetter.org/node/2048

An East Gippsland wildlife carer wants the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) to provide supplementary feed for kangaroos to lessen their impact on farms. Val Hickey from Marlo says farmers could be supplied with round hay bales rather than a permit to shoot kangaroos on their properties. Ms Hicky says three farmers around her property have been given permits to kill kangaroos. She says more work should be done to deter the animals from straying onto farm properties. "It's my belief that wildlife shelters in East Gippsland who raise kangaroos are actually being targeted by DSE," she said. "I don't understand the reason for this and I don't understand the reason for the permits being issued." DSE wildlife officer Charlie Franken says there are between 200 and 300 active permits across the region. He says the DSE assesses each application before the permits are issued and the assessment takes into account issues like kangaroo numbers and feed conditions. "The size of the land, what the farmer's intentions are, what he's doing, the extent of it, the location - there's just many factors we're taking into account," he said. "And then if a permit is warranted then its issued on certain conditions." *ABC

Galahs

The Tasmanian Government has rejected a north-west council's application to poison its galahs. The Central Coast Council says it is battling a costly galah plague at Ulverstone, with birds damaging trees and infrastructure. In April, it applied to the State Government to poison them using a narcotic, causing an outcry. However for now it appears the galahs have been spared, after an assessment by officers from the Game Management Unit found that the toxin, alpha-chloralose, is not suitable for public parks. Tonight the council will vote on a program to encourage the public to stop feeding them. The plan would be reviewed after one year, to see if it has worked. In a statement, the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Energy said the poison posed a risk to other species "With this in mind, the Department has not issued a permit for the poisoning of the galahs but provided advice on other options that may be explored by the Council." *ABC

Graphic Artist Wanted

Wildlife Bytes Pty Ltd is looking for a competant Graphic Artist who is prepared to work with us on a new project, on a royalty basis. If interested please email Bill Corn at bill@wildlifebytes.com.au *WPAA

Fish Poisoned

The Queensland Greens are calling on the State Government to urgently release the final report into fish deformities at a Noosa River hatchery on the Sunshine Coast. Greens spokeswoman Libby Connors says more fish died in outside tanks last week after spraying at nearby macadamia farms. A Queensland Government taskforce was established last year to investigate claims farm chemicals had caused deformities at the hatchery, including two-headed fish. Ms Connors says the problems are a sign something is wrong. "Those fish are like the canaries in the coalmine for us - they're giving us a warning about some dangerous chemical pollutants that are in our environment," she said. "It's terribly sad for the fish hatchery, it's terribly sad in terms of cruelty to animals, but it's a terribly important warning to all of us. "[It's] really disturbing that we have to wait so long for some action from the Queensland Government." *ABC Ed Comment; The macadmia farmer has denied any wrongdoing.

1080

Tasmanian farmers are worried they will be left with no alternative to protect their crops under a proposed ban on the use of 1080 poison. Timber Giant Gunns this week announced it would stop using the deadly poison. The Greens plan to table legislation which would ban the use of 1080 statewide. However the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association's chief executive Jan Davis says the ban would increase the impact of browsing animals on crops. "We'd be extremely concerned about any move to go down that path," she said. She is worried government research on alternatives to 1080 will no longer be funded. Greens Primary Industries spokesman Kim Booth says while the research is important it should not stand in the way of a ban. "Whether that happens or not it's not justification for the poisoning of animals," he said. The Greens legislation would allow the use of 1080 by the fox taskforce. In a statement the Primary Industries Minister, Bryan Green, indicated the government would be unlikely to support the ban saying primary producers need flexibility in managing their operations. *ABC

Conservation Award

Underwater adventurer and shark expert Valerie Taylor has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to conservation. Together with her husband Ronald, Ms Taylor has fought for more than 50 years for the protection of underwater creatures, in particular the great white shark, the grey nurse shark, sea lions, the potato cod, the southern right whale and marine turtles. She has also fought for the conservation of habitats, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef Marine Park in Western Australia. *Brisbane Times

Whaling

The Federal Government says it does not believe this week's meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will bring an end to the killing of whales in the Southern Ocean. The IWC will hold its annual meeting in Morocco next week. It will consider a compromise motion which would bring scientific whaling under the IWC's control but also allow some commercial whaling. Under the IWC draft proposal, Japan would be allowed to catch 120 whales a year in its coastal waters. But Environment Protection Minister Peter Garrett says the Australian Government cannot accept the compromise. "Australia must oppose this shabby deal, Australia must be successful in opposing this shabby deal," he said. "I am hopeful that that will be the case and I hope sincerely that we are not being softened up for defeat. "If such a deal were to go through, Australians would need to resign themselves to watching the slaughter of whales in the Southern Ocean year after year over the next decade. "We may protest, but the IWC would have made it so." *ABC

Hello everyone, This year’s meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is shaping up as the most crucial in the history of the organisation, which was formed in 1946, and tasked with the role of protecting both whales and the whaling industry. In the years since 1946, the Commission has seen some species of great whales pushed to the brink of biological extinction, and others into “commercial” extinction, while the whaling industry, once so mighty, faded and almost died. In 1982, the IWC decided to impose an indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling, which has been helpful to the nascent recovery of some critically endangered species and populations. The full restoration of the role of whales in ocean ecosystems is still a long way off, and may never happen, but the signs of progress are encouraging. It comes as a shock, therefore, to realise that the whaling moratorium, which came as a beacon of hope for the environmental movement, and was so difficult to achieve, is now itself endangered. In Adagdir , Morocco , members of the IWC are now gathering, to consider allowing commercial whaling to resume, including in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. There is a significant likelihood that the Commission will agree. We have created a blog on our OrcaLab web site (http://www.orcalab.org/blog) which will follow events as they unfold. We hope you will check in daily. If circumstances permit, we will also send you email updates. Please focus your thoughts, over the next 10 days, on the fate of whales; and please pass the link to our blog on to others who also care. Thank you. *OrcaLab

Blue Finned Tuna Poaching

Today the Sea Shepard was attacked by illegal bluefin tuna fisherman! It's no surprise, because we know our campaigns are always risky. We consistently go up against those who choose greed and profit over the health and longevity of the oceans. However, we never retreat in the face of serious danger...read more... http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100617-1.html

Logging

The Tasmanian State Government has abandoned its attempt to bring together environmentalists and forest industry groups. Premier David Bartlett told Parliament yesterday the forest industry "roundtable" he announced with fanfare last month was not going ahead. He conceded he had made "a mistake" in thinking it was helpful for politicians to formalise talks already under way between conservation groups and the forestry sector. "After a few days of making the mistake of endeavouring to provide a running commentary, if you like, of these discussions, [Greens leader Nick McKim and I] came to a conclusion jointly that it was not helpful," Mr Bartlett said. "It was not productive, not in my view being reported correctly and not adding to the likelihood of a decent outcome." * Read more... http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/06/17/152851_tasmania-news.html

Fishing

Gympie Mayor Ron Dyne has met with Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett in Canberra to discuss a potential no-take fishing zone near Fraser Island off south-east Queensland. Mr Garrett is assessing whether fishing should be banned to protect the marine environment between Double Island Point and Fraser Island. Fishing groups are concerned the closure would be a devastating blow to commercial and recreational industry. Councillor Dyne says it was a positive meeting. "The assurances that I wanted was that he would have more consultation with our citizens that are concerned, because they are a major industry in Tin Can Bay," he said. "I highlighted to him that the fishing industry in Tin Can Bay is really the only industry in Tin Can Bay, a lot of people have got a lot of money tied up in it." *ABC

Wallaby's

A family of wallabies has successfully made a home in the wild in Cornwall where they survived the British winter. There have been several recent sightings of a male, a female and a baby in the St Breward area, reports the Daily Telegraph. And a motorist recent saw, and photographed, one wallaby near a lane in St Breward. The animal seen by the driver is thought to be a male which escaped from a farm three years ago. He appears to have found another escaped female, who was later pictured with a joey in her pouch. A spokesperson for the RSPCA said the animal charity is often called to capture escaped wallabies, but it is rarer to find examples of them living in the wild in Britain. She said: "Wallabies are quite hardy so they do survive quite well. They are breeding as well so they have been doing fine. It has been going on for several years and they have survived some pretty cold winters. "There are definitely colonies across the country so people should not be surprised if they have seen them." *Orange UK

Ed Comment; there are several colonys of wild wallabies across Europe, Asia, US, and the UK. Most populations have formed from escapees from zoos or dumped pets. Wallabies from the several wild mobs in NZ have been sold overseas as pets, and then later released as the owners become sick of looking after them. In Utah, US, cowboys go weekend shooting emus that were released from unviable emu farms. Read more... http://www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.com/petkangaroos.html

Wild Dogs

A grazier in Queensland's central-west says the wild dog problem is worsening and he is losing hundreds of sheep from his flock due to dog attacks. The State Government and industry groups have been working for several years to improve dog control around Queensland because of the enormous losses wild dogs cause to farmers. But Barcaldine grazier John Chandler says nothing seems to be working and the situation is worsening. "We had 600 [millimetres] of rain from Christmas onwards so nobody was able to do anything for three or four months and the dogs have come in," he said. "We're shearing at the moment and it is just carnage, the losses are horrendous. "We're 20 per cent down in some paddocks, hundreds in each paddock." He says it is a nationwide problem. "This is a huge problem all over Australia that I just have no answers for," he said. "I think people are going to have to individually fence their properties and be responsible for those fences themselves because there's just no collective will, there's no money to fence big areas any more. "So without some new biological control, it seems fencing is the only answer." *ABC

Ed Comment; Hmmm.....a fence....what an origonal idea....who would have thought.....


Flying Foxes

A conservation group says flying foxes in south-east Queensland are starving. Bat Conservation and Rescue Queensland president, Louise Saunders, says more than 850 people have reported injured animals so far this year, compared to a total of 1,000 reports in 2009. She says fewer native flowers are opening in the cold weather and the animals are travelling further and taking bigger risks to feed. "There's been a few sightings of flying foxes flying in Tasmania," she said. "There was one caught in netting and a couple washed up on the shore so these are remarkable journeys for such a small animal and they're all in relation to seeking food." She says the animals do not know where to feed and what to feed on so they stay in residential gardens and die. "The bats are staying in food trees, they are being attacked by crows and dogs when they come down the tree looking for food, so it is a really big concern," she said. Ms Saunders says flying foxes are important pollinates and the threat to these animals could have serious consequences for Australia's rainforests. *ABC

The ACT Government wishes to advise that areas within the Canberra Nature Park will be closed from 6 pm Saturday 19 June 2010 to 6 pm Saturday 31 July 2010 to allow for the controlled culling of over-abundant Eastern Grey Kangaroos. The sites to be closed are Callum Brae Nature Reserve, Crace Nature Reserve, Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve, Jerrabomberra West Nature Reserve, Kama Nature Reserve, Mount Painter Nature Reserve, Mulligan’s Flat Nature Reserve and unleased territory land adjacent to Kama Nature Reserve. “The cull of up to 1890 kangaroos is needed to maintain kangaroo populations at appropriate levels to protect the integrity of ecosystems, several of which contain endangered flora and fauna,” said Director, Parks, Conservation and Lands, Russell Watkinson. “The numbers to be culled have been based on kangaroo counts in each location. “Ensuring the grasslands and woodlands are not overgrazed will protect threatened species and ecosystems, provide habitat for creatures such as ground-feeding birds, prevent excessive soil loss and maintain sustainable numbers of kangaroos.” Mr Watkinson said the kangaroos will be humanely culled by experienced marksmen. *Canberra Times


New Frog Found

A young scientist has discovered the state's first new frog species in 45 years. Kaya Klop-Toker, 23, was invited to study frogs, bouncing back after the rain, in Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. She found lots of "cute" little tree frogs with "fantastic camouflage" and took specimens to the University of Adelaide expert, Associate Professor Mike Tyler. Straight away, he knew this "pretty little thing" was special. The brand new frog species will bring the total number in South Australia to 29. "This is the first new species to be found in South Australia since 1965, when another species unique to the Flinders Ranges called Crinia riparia, or the Flinders Ranges froglet, was described," Prof. Tyler said. "The Flinders is very important in terms of the frog fauna, because there are species that are unique to the area, they don't occur anywhere else in Australia."

Associate Professor Tyler called Sanctuary owners Marg and Doug Sprigg with the exciting news. It was a very different phone call to the one they'd received earlier that day from the chairman of Marathon Resources. The uranium exploration company has served Arkaroola with notice of further work on site. This is the same company that illegally buried about 35 tonnes of low-level radioactive material in 22,800 plastic bags at Mount Gee back in 2007. Ms Sprigg has "serious concerns" about the potential impact of uranium mining on many little known and as yet undescribed species. "Last year a giant gecko was found in the Northern part of Arkaroola, again undescribed," she said. "We just wonder what else is here that could be under threat from exploration and mining." Ms Klop-Toker said she wanted to work in conservation and frogs were the "most at-risk type of animal that we have at the moment". "We've lost more frogs than any other type of species in the last 50 or 100 years, so that makes me want to try and save them," she said. The species' name will be confirmed by an international naming committee.

Whaling Product Sold

The Australian arm of the global drug company Sigma-Aldrich has confirmed it has sold a sperm whale extract, as a new European report warns of a second wave of commercial whaling. Sigma-Aldrich's office in Sydney said its call centre had handled limited sales of myoglobin taken from sperm whale skeletal muscle. Myoglobin is used as a biochemical marker for diagnosis of heart attack. Sigma-Aldrich was yesterday advertising the product for sale at $475.86 a milligram on its website, but last night the price had been removed. The sale of whale products is illegal in Australia, and their import has been banned since 1981. Sigma-Aldrich Australia's managing director, Ben Perrin, said the product on its website list was not for sale in Australia. 'But in the interests of full disclosure I must say we have processed orders for this, and there have been some sales to customers in New Zealand.'' He said the myoglobin was, to the best of his knowledge, a natural product derived from the sperm whale. The most recent of four orders was in 2005.

A spokesman for the Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, confirmed it was unlawful to trade in whale products in Australia. ''The minister has asked his department to immediately investigate these allegations.'' The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said in a report published yesterday that thousands of approved patents for products or processes could contain whale ingredients. Japan was selling sperm whale myoglobin and chondroitin for treating osteoarthritis to researchers worldwide. Japanese researchers were also using whale collagen for beauty treatments and as an anti-inflammatory. Norway was examining the use of whale oil for pharmaceutical and health supplements. Sue Fisher, the whaling campaign leader of the society, said: ''It is clear that the whalers are planning to use whale oil and other whale derivatives to restore their hunts to long-term profitability.'' *Age


Logging

Indonesia is home to 10 per cent of the world's remaining tropical rainforests, but officials estimate 10 million hectares have been lost to illegal logging. Last month the Indonesian government announced a massive crackdown on illegal logging as part of a $1 billion deal with Norway to stop deforestation. But with an estimated 40 to 55 per cent of Indonesia's timber illegally harvested, thousands of people are dependent on this industry for their income. So a group in northern Sumatra is taking an innovative approach and retraining former illegal loggers to work as elephant keepers. The Tangkahan elephant project is on the edge of the Gunung Leuser National Park, about 100 kilometres from Medan in northern Sumatra. The project is mixing conservation with eco-tourism. Foreign tourists who visit the site help wash elephants or can go on a four day patrol with the elephants to monitor the state of the forest and check for any illegal activity.

There are less than 3,000 Sumatran elephants left in the wild. Whadi Azmi, the flora and fauna international manager for the Sumatran Elephant Program, says the biggest threat to the elephant is the loss of habitat. "Many wild populations still remain but there's no more habitat because it's being converted into various agricultural land uses, for example palm oil on a big scale," he said. The other big threat is what is known as human-elephant conflict. Elephants are mostly seen by the locals as a pest and a threat, particularly when they destroy farm plots or devour palm oil seeds. Some wild elephants are poisoned and others are captured and put into camps. The seven elephants at the Tangkahan site have been rescued from these camps and are now used to generate an income as a tourist attraction.

Zoos Victoria is one of the international partners of the elephant conservation project in Tangkahan. Zoos Victoria's conservation partnerships manager, Chris Banks, says eco-tourism is a good alternative to previous activities like illegal logging. "And it's absolutely better for the elephants, it provides a far better quality of life than in the camps, they get stimulus, activity and better food and health," he said. One of the elephant keepers - or Mahouts as they are called in Indonesia - is 30-year-old Rutkita Sembiring. He first began illegally harvesting timber from the nearby forest when he was 19. Rutkita Sembiring says unlike large-scale illegal logging operations they only had a small team of eight people. "We had to select the best log, predict the price, we preferred the logs closest to the river so it's easier to bring to the city to sell them," he said.

He says the threat of law enforcement and a growing concern for the forest helped change his mind about logging. But when he switched jobs to look after elephants in 2002 he took a big pay cut. He used to earn a $1,000 a month, now he is down to $130 a month. "We got a lot of money but it was easy come, easy go and we don't feel as happy as we do working with the elephants and protecting the forest," he said. In 2007 the United Nations Environmental Program estimated that 73 to 88 per cent of timber logged in Indonesia was illegally sourced. Law enforcement has had some impact and that figure has dropped. But a recent report by a environment groups in the United Sates, such as the BlueGreen Alliance and the Rainforest Action Network, estimate that about half of Indonesia's timber is still illegally sourced.

But Rutkita Sembiring says that for conservation efforts to succeed in Indonesia, the community has to be involved in the process. "This is my homeland, I saw the future of keeping the forest safe but if the project did not involve the local community, it doesn't matter how much money you have or how many rangers you recruit to protect the forest it won't be a success," he said. The Tangkahan elephant project will also have to show that besides generating an income from foreign tourists, the forest and elephants are being protected. Zoos Victoria is currently reviewing its funding program while the Indonesian partners write up a new five year plan. *ABC


Whaling Corruption

Japan, the Marshall Islands and Kiribati have denied trading cash and favours for votes in support of Tokyo on whaling. Britain's The Sunday Times reported that officials from St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Guinea and Ivory Coast were willing to discuss selling their votes at the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The newspaper said officials had voted with the pro-whaling bloc because of Japanese aid, or because they were offered inducements including cash, call-girls and funding to attend whaling meetings. The report emerged ahead of a crucial IWC meeting in Morocco next week where a compromise proposal will be put forward to end a 24-year-old moratorium on commercial whaling. Limited whaling would be allowed, although numbers permitted to be killed would be cut sharply from current levels progressively over the next decade. Japan today denied the claims in the Sunday Times.

"It is a fact that Japan as a country never pays money to buy votes for the IWC," said a Japanese Fisheries Agency official who declined to be named. Asked about the allegation Japan had paid for call girls for envoys, the official said: "I cannot believe anything like that". Each country "makes their own decision" on how to vote at the IWC, he said. "There are many countries that support the sustainable use of whales. Japan's aid for countries is provided regardless of their support for whaling." Marshall Islands foreign minister John Silk said on Wednesday that the newspaper had falsified or distorted information. "The Marshall Islands' vote at the IWC is not for sale", he said in a statement.

"The Marshall Islands is a sovereign nation and as such, determines its own government policies. "The Marshall Islands' policy on whaling is not based on the aid from Japan or any other country." The Sunday Times said its reporters posed as representatives of a fictional Swiss billionaire who was offering an aid package to persuade the countries to shift to the anti-whaling camp at next week's IWC meeting. In a reported transcript of an exchange between a reporter and Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority official Doreen deBrum, she confirmed the country's vote in support of Japan was related to aid. "We support Japan because of what they give us," she was quoted as saying, although she later denied this when the newspaper revealed its purpose.

The secretary of Kiribati's ministry for fisheries and marine resources and development, Ribanataaket Awira, said Japan did pay for Kiribati to attend a recent meeting of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations in Barcelona, Spain. However, he says New Zealand, Australia and the United Nations have also helped pay for trips to important meetings in the past, but this has never influenced Kiribati's vote. "The relationship we have with Japan is based on our fishing bilateral arrangement which we have had with them for over 30 years," he said. "So the aid that we receive from Japan is part of that arrangement and it has nothing to do with whaling." Officials from Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis have also denied the allegations. *AFP/ABC

Smart Dingoes...ABC Report

ELEANOR HALL: Scientists have tested the intelligence of Australia's native dog for the first time and the results put domestic animals to shame. Tests on dingoes in Victoria show that they completed a standard challenge much faster than domesticated dogs and without any help from humans. The lead researcher says the results show that dingoes are very smart animals and that they should be better protected.

Simon Lauder has that report.

SIMON LAUDER: Until now there's been little scientific proof of the intelligence level of dingoes but Lyn Watson has seen enough to draw her own conclusions.

LYN WATSON: Please do not leave your chequebook around where the dingoes are because they're just as likely to forge your signature.

SIMON LAUDER: As a director of the Dingo Discovery and Research Centre in Victoria Lyn Watson has worked with dingoes for more than 20 years.

LYN WATSON: We've got one we call Sterling. We had people doing some work over the fence and Sterling couldn't see, but he wanted to know what was going on and so he would knock his barrel of its stand and then roll that barrel over to the fence and climb up on the barrel so he could look over.

If you think about it, you know, the dingo is the most intelligent animal in Australia apart from man.

SIMON LAUDER: University of South Australia PhD candidate Bradley Smith agrees with Lyn Watson's assessment and now he's got evidence to back it up.

He put the dingoes at the Discovery and Research Centre through a standard test, which has previously been used to test the intelligence of domestic dogs.

It involves putting food on the opposite side of a transparent V-shaped wall. It takes domestic dogs 20 to 40 seconds and some help from a human to work out that they have to walk away from the food to get around the obstacle, but the dingoes averaged 10 seconds with no help.

BRADLEY SMITH: It shows that their problem solving ability is certainly at a different level than dogs.

SIMON LAUDER: By how much would you say?

BRADLEY SMITH: By a fair bit. Dingoes really found this task quite easy and they did it from the first trial very quickly. And as I said once you start changing the variety of the task and making it more difficult, then they still don't have any trouble.

SIMON LAUDER: The dingoes' test results are similar to results for wolves. Bradley Smith says domestic pets seem to have lost the skills they would need to survive in the wild but dingoes need intelligence to survive.

BRADLEY SMITH: They're under the influence of natural selection. They have to learn how to hunt, they have to be good at hunting, they have to live in a pack, they have to stay away from danger, they have to protect themselves. And if they don't do that - they die.

Whereas you have a lot of domestic dogs, they have to adapt to the home environment. You know, they can't be aggressive, they have to, if they're inside and they have to go to the toilet they have to wait. They only get fed at certain times, their problems are solved for them.

I would never say that dogs are dumb, I'd just say they're highly specialised to living with us, with humans.

SIMON LAUDER: I can almost hear just about every dog owner out there wanting to jump in and defend their particular breed of dog that they have at home. But you're fairly confident that the wild dingo would outdo them all in this test?

BRADLEY SMITH: Oh definitely. Yes. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I mean I'm not- Again I'm not saying that dogs are dumb. I'm saying that they don't require the need to solve problems - and especially complex problems to survive - so they're kind of losing that ability.

SIMON LAUDER: They can just rely on their owners to do everything for them now.

BRADLEY SMITH: Exactly. I mean and why wouldn't you. That's such a lovely lifestyle. If I was an animal, I'd love it if someone did everything for me. It would be brilliant.

SIMON LAUDER: Mr Smith says his work is the first attempt to measure the intelligence of dingoes and he hopes the results make farmers and hunters think twice about killing them.

BRADLEY SMITH: They're a pretty controversial species and there's little funding in Australia for this type of research. Most of the research seems to be focused on their ecology or their effect and influence on the agricultural industry and the best ways to kill them I guess and to get rid of them.

SIMON LAUDER: Do you think this scientific evidence will help in attempts to protect dingoes?

BRADLEY SMITH: Oh definitely, yeah. If they're just seen as a normal dog then they won't get into any trouble or they won't be controversal - you can just kill them. But as you can see this research has shown that they are a lot different then dogs. They shouldn't be treated the same.

SIMON LAUDER: Lyn Watson from the Dingo Discovery Centre says she wants the findings to lead to greater protection of dingoes and their habitat.

LYN WATSON: The sad thing of course is like most of our wonderful wild animals that their habitat is going. In Australia, it's our lion, our tiger. It's our top order predator. It keeps the ecosystem in balance. So that's where it's really required but all we've done is persecute it.

ELEANOR HALL: That's Lyn Watson from the Dingo Discovery Centre ending Simon Lauder's report.


Canberra Kangaroo Kill

Experienced marksmen will kill almost 2000 kangaroos in ACT reserves closed to the public from today but animal liberation activists warn they will not sit and watch it happen. The coordinated cull to protect grasslands and woodlands was announced by the ACT Government yesterday, 24 hours before the reserves were shut. Bushwalkers and other visitors will be excluded from 2300ha of land across eight nature reserves from 6pm today until July 31. Fines of up to $5000 as well as rangers and security staff patrolling the reserves will be used to deter trespassers going into Callum Brae, Crace, Goorooyarroo, Jerrabomberra West, Kama, Mt Painter and Mulligans Flat nature reserves as well as an area of land adjacent to Kama Nature Reserve. The cost to the taxpayer will be $170,000, or $90 for each roo killed. The ACT Government said it was not economical to sell the animals to abattoirs. The eastern grey kangaroo carcasses would be buried at an undisclosed ACT location.

Australia's biggest kangaroo meat supplier said the kangaroo carcasses would be conservatively worth $150,000. Ray Borda, from Macro Meats in South Australia, labelled the cull-and-bury process a ''silly'' wastage. He said the 1890 kangaroos about to be shot would harvest about 23 tonnes of edible kangaroo meat. The exporter said this was the equivalent of one meal for 115,000 people, or about a third of the ACT population. 'But I can see where the Government is coming from because of the animal liberationists,'' Mr Borda said, referring to the public concern. A Territory and Municipal Services statement says the cull was endorsed by the RSPCA and in line with the ACT Kangaroo Management Plan, issued in March this year. The director of Parks, Conservation and Lands, Russell Watkinson, said there was an ''over-abundance'' of kangaroos in the nature reserves. * Canberra Times

Ed Comment; There have been some letters published in the Canberra Times already, I like the one that states "the ACT government has just proved that the dead heart of Australia is in Canberra, not the Red Centre!"

Experienced marksmen will kill almost 2000 kangaroos in ACT reserves closed to the public from today but animal liberation activists warn they will not sit and watch it happen. The coordinated cull to protect grasslands and woodlands was announced by the ACT Government yesterday, 24 hours before the reserves were shut. Bushwalkers and other visitors will be excluded from 2300ha of land across eight nature reserves from 6pm today until July 31. Fines of up to $5000 as well as rangers and security staff patrolling the reserves will be used to deter trespassers going into Callum Brae, Crace, Goorooyarroo, Jerrabomberra West, Kama, Mt Painter and Mulligans Flat nature reserves as well as an area of land adjacent to Kama Nature Reserve. The cost to the taxpayer will be $170,000, or $90 for each roo killed. The ACT Government said it was not economical to sell the animals to abattoirs. The eastern grey kangaroo carcasses would be buried at an undisclosed ACT location.

Australia's biggest kangaroo meat supplier said the kangaroo carcasses would be conservatively worth $150,000. Ray Borda, from Macro Meats in South Australia, labelled the cull-and-bury process a ''silly'' wastage. He said the 1890 kangaroos about to be shot would harvest about 23 tonnes of edible kangaroo meat. The exporter said this was the equivalent of one meal for 115,000 people, or about a third of the ACT population. 'But I can see where the Government is coming from because of the animal liberationists,'' Mr Borda said, referring to the public concern. A Territory and Municipal Services statement says the cull was endorsed by the RSPCA and in line with the ACT Kangaroo Management Plan, issued in March this year. The director of Parks, Conservation and Lands, Russell Watkinson, said there was an ''over-abundance'' of kangaroos in the nature reserves. *Canberra Times 19/6/10

Animal welfare activists have vowed to stop the ''brutal and unnecessary'' killing of about 2000 kangaroos in Canberra reserves over the next six weeks. The ACT Government closed off eight parks on Saturday night to allow a small number of marksmen to begin shooting the roos. But the Department of Territory and Municipal Services will not reveal precisely when or where the culls will take place, saying it will comment on the operation only when it is finished. The department has closed grassland and woodland areas inside and adjacent to Canberra Nature Park sites across the ACT until the end of July. It warns trespassers they face fines of up to $5500 if they enter the parks. The Government plans to kill up to 1890 eastern grey kangaroos, saying there are too many and their grazing threatens a number of endangered plant and animal species.

But Australian Society for Kangaroos' coordinator Nikki Sutterby denied yesterday there was any scientific evidence which suggested the ''kangaroos compete with any threatened species or damage grasslands''. 'Kangaroos are actually a natural and important part of the Australian environment and they have been in harmony with it for about 16 million years.'' She also said the target of 1890 kangaroos ''dramatically underestimated the real toll'', as many of the female roos would have dependent joeys. 'The joeys are clubbed to death or decapitated. It's absolutely brutal; they don't even spare a bullet ... A lot of joeys will be orphaned, too, because while they're still dependent they won't necessarily be in the pouch when their mums are shot.'' The society had members watching the culling sites who would act to stop the killing, but Ms Sutterby would not specify what they planned to do. A departmental spokesman said the Government would issue a statement after the cull. The spokesman also said, ''Any joeys that are killed will be killed in accordance with the code of practice, which has been endorsed by the RSPCA.'' 21/6/10

Kangaroo Petition here at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/kangaroo-extinction.html