Wallabies reaching plague proportions in Cairns
ABC Far North, Cairns. Mornings. 18 Nov 2009 09.10AM
Compere Fiona Sewell discusses wallabies, saying they are reaching plague proportions in the southern suburbs of Cairns. She says they are not endangered, but the word ‘cull’ upsets many people. She says the Cairns Regional Council will vote today to find solutions to problems surrounding the management of the Wallaby. She says a Wallaby Management Strategy has been in place for three years.
Geoff Basuti, former cane farmer, has been working with wallabies for around 60 years. Basuti says that any animal cannot be allowed to continue to breed and breed without some form of control. He says there is not enough land at White Rock now to maintain and sustain the existing wallaby population. He discusses dangers posed by the wallaby population, mentioning damage done to soccer fields in the area.
Caller Jay from Silver Valley says he wants to stick up for the animals. He says animals are coming in from extreme drought situations and when the land ‘greens up’, they will move away. He says that wallaby droppings are great fertiliser. Basuti responds to these comments, discusses land now used by subdivisions.
Caller Scott says he cannot see what harm the wallabies are doing. He says if there are problems with soccer fields, they should put up a fence. Basuti outlines other possible ways of managing the animals, discussing how complex the issue is.
Caller Sarah discusses Wallaby habitats, saying they have expanded to include cane paddocks.
Caller Tom discusses problems with wallabies at the Leichhardt soccer club. He says wallabies ought to be caught and they should be moved to other areas where they cannot be a pest to humans.
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