On 25th August 2017, ASK and our brave team of volunteers shut down a government operation to shoot 400 kangaroos and their babies, setting up an around-the-clock front-line action to keep them alive and safe.
ASK volunteers, wildlife rescuers, carers and local residents have vowed to continue their vigil at the site until the government agreed to their relocation, and have done so to this day. ASK along with their volunteers, supporters and members of the public are calling on the Victorian government to relocate these land-locked kangaroos to a safe new home where they can live out their lives in peace. But the Victorian government has an old-fashioned perspective and a ‘no’ policy on relocation and don’t want to set a successful humane precedent. However, their outdated approach to wildlife management is inconsistent with public expectations who view the relocation of these land-locked kangaroos, protected under state legislation, as a basic duty of care.
ASK’s campaign to save the Epping kangaroo families and have them relocated to a new home escalated on Thursday, 21st September 2017, when our legal team lodged an application to the Supreme Court in Melbourne for a judicial review and discovery of documents in a desperate bid to stop their pending slaughter. We were fighting to save the lives of 400 kangaroos on death row in Epping just north of Melbourne, whose home is earmarked for development. Sadly, however, in June 2018, we lost our battle to save the Epping kangaroos in the Supreme Court. After 12 months and hundreds of hours of work from our legal team, the judge ruled for the government, citing the Wildlife Act of Victoria and its clear intention to give full power to the Minister to decide on the fate of our protected wildlife in Victorian no matter what the evidence shows. However, we continue to fight for the Epping kangaroos to be relocated and keep vigil at their home until the government agrees to relocate them.
We are forever grateful to Daniel Beecher of Phoenix Legal Solutions, as well as Anastasia Smietanka from Animal Law Institute and Trevor Monti SC, who acted on our behalf and spent thousands of hours as volunteers planning this groundbreaking court case. These three people are the best you will find in humanity and we will never forget how they fought for these very special kangaroos. We are also eternally grateful to the incredible efforts and commitment of volunteers out on the front line protecting and saving kangaroos’ lives. It’s because of you that they are still alive today. THANK YOU ALL!!
You can view just some of the media reports about the Epping Roos at the links below:
• Herald Sun, Victoria – Australian Society for Kangaroos Volunteers to patrol epping following department cull. 29 August 2017
• Herald Sun, Victoria – Epping kangaroo cull sparks fight between wildlife advocates state government – August 2017
• News.com.au, Australia – Legal bid to stop melbourne kangaroo cull – 5 October 2017
• SBS Australia – Legal bid to stop Melbourne Kangaroo cull – 5 October 2017
• Herald Sun Leader, Victoria – Activists may stand between guns and hundreds of epping kangaroos as supreme court gives cull go ahead – October 2017
• Herald Sun, Victoria – Epping mass kangaroo cull backed by State Government – October 2017
