Burke defends kangaroo culls

Burke defends kangaroo culls

4.04.2008

AUSTRALIA`S Agriculture Minister Tony Burke has been forced to defend the culling of hundreds of kangaroos after Japanese reporters linked the issue to Australian criticism of Japan`s whale slaughter.

"If they are not culled, there will be many more than 400 facing death from starvation," he told reporters in Tokyo today.

Australian authorities said on Monday that they had postponed the planned killing of 400 eastern grey kangaroos at a defence site after a public outcry over the proposal.

Mr Burke said certain endangered species may face "a dire situation" if kangaroo numbers at the target site were not reduced.

A report recommending the cull said native grasses and three threatened species, including a lizard, and a grasshopper, were at risk. Millions of kangaroos are slaughtered in the Australian wild every year on the basis that there are too many, with much of the meat being used for pet food.

Some wildlife protection groups have accused Australia of hypocrisy over its efforts to protect whales but not kangaroos.

But Mr Burke brushed aside suggestions of double standards, citing "different circumstances".

Since taking over in December, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has ramped up pressure on Japan over its whaling, sending a customs vessel to monitor the Antarctic hunt, which is widely reviled by the Australian public.

Japan says whaling is legal and part of its culture. It uses a loophole in a global moratorium on commercial whaling under which the giant mammals may be killed for research.

Mr Burke said he had "a frank exchange between friends"on environmental issues when he met his Japanese counterpart Masatoshi Wakabayashi late yesterday.

The two sides expressed their different views on whaling, with Mr Bourke reiterating Australia`s opposition to commercial and scientific whaling, he said.

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