Louise (Admin)
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Shoot To Cull: Australia Plots Kangaroo KillsAuthorities in Australia's capital city have been driven hopping mad by a glut of kangaroos and are ready to take drastic action.
Officials in Canberra have threatened to shoot the country's best-known marsupial en masse.
But the proposed cull has earned little support among the city's residents.
More than 80% of those polled in a government survey thought the wild kangaroos should stay.
Authorities have tried giving them vasectomies and oral contraceptives, but to no avail.
They say trucking them off to new and distant pastures will cost too much.
The debate comes as it was revealed 17% of drivers in the district had admitted colliding with a kangaroo at least once.
Recent stories of an unwelcome pouched visitor bounding through a closed bedroom window onto a family in bed has raised calls for a urban cull.
Barry Stuart, who runs a kangaroo abattoir 220 miles north of Canberra, shoots more than 25 on most nights with a licence from the government.
"They're a beautiful bloody animal," said Stuart, 60.
"You don't like to destroy them, but when the time comes, you've got to do it."
Opposition has been led by Pat O'Brien, president of the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, whose patrons are the family of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin.
"It's disgraceful that people want to shoot our national symbol," Mr O'Brien said.
"The days when wildlife is managed with a gun should be long past."
The public has until May 11 to make its views known.
A decision will then be made, and a quota set.
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Lady Rachel
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Australia is a BIG place.....must have enough space for everyone 
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