THE Director of Parks and Conservation, Daniel Iglesias, is reminding the public that, starting today, closures will be in place at a number of reserves to allow a kangaroo conservation cull to take place.
The sites to be closed for the conservation cull are:
- Callum Brae Nature Reserve,
- Crace Nature Reserve,
- Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve and adjacent unleased territory land,
- Gungaderra Nature Reserve,
- Kama Nature Reserve,
- Mount Painter Nature Reserve,
- Mulanggari Nature Reserve,
- The Pinnacle Nature Reserve and adjacent unleased territory land,
- Wanniassa Hills Nature Reserve.
Sites will be closed between 3 pm and 7 am each day, with the exception of Mount Painter Nature Reserve, The Pinnacle Nature Reserve and Wanniassa Hills Nature Reserve, which will be closed each day from 5 pm until 7 am the following morning.
The closures will commence Thursday 30 April 2015 and remain in place until midnight Friday 31 July 2015. The sites will re-open on Saturday 1 August 2015.
Signage has been erected at entrance points to the reserves.
“The closures are in place for safety reasons so I’d strongly urge the community to respect them and to report any illegal activity at affected nature reserves. Last year we experienced vandalism which primarily cost taxpayers’ money to repair the damage and disrupted the work of volunteer groups who help look after our parks,” Daniel said.
“To report incidents of vandalism or suspicious behaviour please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or to Canberra Connect on 13 22 81.
“Parks and Conservation Service staff will patrol areas to ensure the safety of the public and surveillance cameras will be used to enhance public safety and detect illegal activity.
“Fines apply under the Nature Conservation Act 1980 for vandalising reserve infrastructure or entering closed reserves.
“The numbers to be culled have been based on scientific kangaroo counts in each location. This has been compared to the sustainable carrying capacity for each area that ACT Government ecologists have established by taking into account the habitat requirements of grassland dependent animals and plants.”
Further information is available from Canberra Connect on 13 22 81 or from tams.act.gov.au
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