The Belconnen kangaroo cull has been called off, with the Department of Defence now determined to go ahead with its original plans to relocate the animals to NSW.
Defence announced last night it would seek the ACT Government's cooperation in conducting "a scientific trial of kangaroo management techniques, including translocation".
ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope was not available for comment last night, but Queanbeyan Wildcare spokesman Professor Steve Garlick welcomed Defence's decision as "a win for the way communities value the natural environment".
In a statement posted on its website, Defence said the trial would "deliver scientific evidence relating to translocation, assist the protection of endangered ecological communities and threatened species, and inform debate on humane management of eastern grey kangaroos."
It said the cooperation of the ACT Government and "key experts" in developing a proposal to support a pilot program would help identify "a sustainable and responsible approach" to land management.
"Pending the ACT Government's response to the Defence proposal, the cull of kangaroos at [Belconnen] will be placed on hold."
If the ACT Government refuses to support the scientific pilot program, the Federal Government could be legally entitled to "pursue its own business" in relation to Commonwealth land.
More than 400 eastern grey kangaroos at the Belconnen site were to be herded into pens to be darted with tranquillisers, then killed by a lethal injection of sodium pentobarbital.
Last year, a Defence-commissioned expert scientific panel recommended moving "as many as possible" eastern grey kangaroos from the fenced Belconnen Naval Transmission Station site to reduce grazing pressure on sensitive grasslands and endangered insects and reptiles.
But these plans were scuppered when the ACT Government refused to grant export licences to move the kangaroos.
Mr Stanhope and RSPCA ACT director Michael Linke claimed moving the kangaroos would be inhumane, citing a report stating "large numbers of kangaroos could be expected to die as a result".
The director of the University of NSW arid zone research station, David Croft, dismissed this claim as "ill-informed".
Dr Croft conducted a two-year study in central NSW on the impacts of translocation which showed no kangaroos died after being released into new habitat, and animals quickly integrated with wild kangaroos.
"Macropods appear to be particularly resilient to translocation, especially if they are large enough to resist foxes," he said.
Kangaroos used in the study were caught with a dart gun using Zoletil (a fast-acting. anaesthetic), sedated with valium and placed in hessian bags. Capture and sedation were timed so kangaroos could be fitted with radio collars and released at night.
Last year, Dr Croft supported a draft proposal by Queanbeyan Wildcare to move the Belconnen kangaroos.
Dr Croft said it would provide valuable science to guide trans-location of endangered species to new habitats. Defence said its expert panel "recommended actions that would achieve a sustainable balance between kangaroo numbers and grasslands, by translocating as many kangaroos as possible, darting and euthanasing only where necessary, and implementing fertility control measures." Since receiving that advice, Defence "has remained committed" to moving the kangaroos, the statement said.
News of the impending cull attracted a storm of national and global protest, with former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney supporting a Europe-wide protest campaign by British animal welfare group Viva! Japanese media reports also claimed the Australian Government was being hypocritical in opposing scientific whaling, suggesting the kangaroo cull would be used to undermine Australia's anti-whaling arguments at this year's International Whaling Commission meeting in Chile.
More than 6000 people signed a Canberra-based petition to stop the cull, with Australians accounting for more than 65 per cent of signatures. Canberra residents made up more almost half of the Australian total. The petition was delivered to Mr Stanhope last week, with a letter asking the Government to reconsider its decision to stop the translocation program in the light of the "negative publicity this campaign has attracted to Canberra".
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