On 27 April local residents were shocked to receive a notification from the Heritage Golf & Country Club in Chirnside Park, Victoria, that their beloved local kangaroos would be slaughtered during the night. The Club had received authority under the Victorian Kangaroo Harvest Management Program to sell the kangaroo carcasses for pet food.

The community and Club have lived harmoniously with the kangaroos until new management took over in early 2021. Long term residents, staff and patrons of the Club and hotel have expressed their love for these kangaroos. They have expressed deep distress about the threat towards their placid mob that causes no damage and is part of the very reason why they love the property. Many have described the strong attachment they have for the mob which was deepened during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The mob includes a local celebrity, Big Al (aka Mr Scarface), a gentle giant who was recently rehabilitated for a hand injury with the community anxiously following his progress.

Kangaroo shooting is brutal and should never be an option. Inevitably not all kangaroos will be killed cleanly and there will be stress and suffering. Pouch joeys will be bashed to death or decapitated (as per the Code*) and at-foot joeys will often escape to die slowly without their mothers. It is an appalling assault on our sensitive, family-oriented kangaroos and the Club needs to know the community won’t stand for it!

Environmentally friendly golf courses that ‘promote indigenous flora and fauna’ and ‘provide wildlife sanctuaries’ are considered best practice according to the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects**. Clubs that protect their wildlife can be proud of the important role they play in providing sanctuaries for Australia’s unique macropods. We need to urge the Heritage Golf & Country Club to take this responsibility as wildlife stewards seriously, for the good of the animals, the community and their own reputation. There is no need to kill this mob and the backlash for doing so will stain this business long into the future. The signatories strongly urge the Club to show progressive leadership and protect the kangaroos under their care in perpetuity.

* https://www.agrifutures.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/20-126-digital.pdf

**https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/71111/Planning-for-Golf-in-Victoria-Discussion-Paper_FINAL-220617.pdf

Channel 7 clip: https://youtu.be/-I-flplQBlU

Photo credit: local wildlife carer Katja Gutwein

#SaveTheHeritageKangas

#hgcc