Links to the story emerged on international websites and National Kangaroo Protection Coalition spokesman Pat O'Brien said the group had spread the news to contacts worldwide and was working on a website, possibly titled ''something like www.dontvisitcanberra.com''.

Ca nberra Business Council's tourism taskforce chairman David Marshall said the boycott was potentially dangerous in an economic downturn.

''It's a very unwise to expect the tourism industry and the general business community to be implicated in something like this when there's an economic crisis on, everyone's finding it very tough,'' he said.

Mr Marshall said the move could have a significant effect on the city's tourism industry, which employs about 14,000 people.

''The last thing you need is another impediment, or any negative publicity ... and they're very good at it, as you see they've got some international coverage.''

Mr O'Brien said the coalition hoped a boycott would pressure the tourism industry into lobbying the ACT Government.

But Mr Marshall said the tourism business should remain distant from the controversy.

''We're not buying into whether it's a good idea or not, that's up to [ACT Environment Commissioner] Maxine Cooper and those other experts,'' he said.

''All we're saying is they shouldn't be targeting a particular sector and expecting us to lobby on their behalf, when the economic impact of it can be very devastating for many businesses who are currently struggling.''

But Mr O'Brien was unmoved last night, saying, ''They should be [alarmed] too, they sat back [during previous culls] and they watched and they said nothing.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times