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Speaker 1: Mentioned the rus that are seemingly being poisoned in the

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Speaker 1: Adelaide Hills is not just the Hills. Reports of similar

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Speaker 1: incidents around Barossa, Mount Barker, down in Melang, Normanville, down

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Speaker 1: the Flurio, so it's pretty widespread and Adelaide Hills Kangaroo

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Speaker 1: Rescue are wanting to know, wanting to hear from people

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Speaker 1: who have found dead rous possums, bandicoots, other wildlife too.

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Speaker 1: I guess with no signs of injury, so that they

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Speaker 1: haven't been hit by a car for instance, but they're

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Speaker 1: dead and they want to investigate further to see if

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Speaker 1: it is animals being poisoned now, is it accidental? Is

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Speaker 1: it it's poison being left out? Is it a poison

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Speaker 1: that's been left for other pests that because there's so

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Speaker 1: many rues, some are ingesting it and therefore they're dying.

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Speaker 1: Linda White is from Adelaide Hills Kangaroo Rescue. Linda, good morning,

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Speaker 1: Good thank you. It's concerning you've noticed an uptick.

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Speaker 2: Obviously, Oh, definitely. I don't recall having this happened in

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Speaker 2: previous years, and I haven't heard anything from other rescuers

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Speaker 2: saying that you know this is an annual event, so

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Speaker 2: it is concerning.

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Speaker 1: So do you think it's deliberate or could it be accidental?

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Speaker 2: Look, I don't believe it's deliberate. I think it's probably

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Speaker 2: more lack of education of safe ways to do it.

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Speaker 2: Previously pindone has been regulated more than it is now.

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Speaker 1: So Pindon's the poison? Is that right?

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Speaker 2: That's well, that's what that's what it's all pointing to.

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Speaker 2: That's what our vets and other vets are saying. We've

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Speaker 2: spoken to someone at the Animal Control Technologies Australia and

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Speaker 2: they're the company that do the research and manufacture the product,

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Speaker 2: and we've explained the symptoms, what the test is showing

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Speaker 2: that sort of thing, and they've said that that is.

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Speaker 1: What's that used for usually rabbits. Rabbits Okay, So it's

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Speaker 1: what left out just on the ground is or do

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Speaker 1: they put food out with it? How does it work?

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Speaker 2: So when it comes from let the landscape board, they

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Speaker 2: put it on tarrots that they're chopped up, and I

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Speaker 2: believe that it's dyed green, but I'm not sure that

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Speaker 2: that would deter most wildlife. But you can also buy

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Speaker 2: it in hardware stores on oats. So it's you know,

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Speaker 2: both things would be of interest to other wildlife.

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Speaker 1: Why this year, then you say it's unusual in that

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Speaker 1: it's not a seasonal thing, doesn't happen every year. But

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Speaker 1: something is clearly changed. Is it the numbers of roots?

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Speaker 2: No, because in the Adelaide Hill that if you look

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Speaker 2: at the figures for the population estimates the kangaroo numbers

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Speaker 2: in the last five years, they're about the same as

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Speaker 2: they were in twenty nineteen. So we don't think it's that.

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Speaker 2: Possibly it's that there is a lot of rabbits out there,

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Speaker 2: and there's been definitely a push for property owners to

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Speaker 2: do their bit and get them under control from government

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Speaker 2: departments and that sort of thing. And I understand that

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Speaker 2: that it's important because they do have an impact on

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Speaker 2: the environment. But I think it definitely needs to go

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Speaker 2: back when it was to how it was regulated before,

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Speaker 2: so that people are educated, so that they use things

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Speaker 2: like enclosures and barriers to stop larger animals getting to them.

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Speaker 2: I don't know how you make it available for birds

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Speaker 2: and not have possums and bandicoots be able to eat

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Speaker 2: it or birds.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, are you seeing similar results in other animals?

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Speaker 2: There have been reports to a couple of other organizations

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Speaker 2: of brush helpers and where we've just really did that

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Speaker 2: post yesterday. We did a number of posts around just

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Speaker 2: saying if anyone's seen anything. So we haven't heard anything

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Speaker 2: about bandicoots at this point, but the research is that

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Speaker 2: they would be a species that would be.

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Speaker 1: Affected, and they're in dangered, aren't they. There's not many

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Speaker 1: colonies of bandicoots around the place.

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Speaker 2: No, well, I believe they're trying to build them up

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Speaker 2: Janet Scott Creek and definitely not a species that we

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Speaker 2: want dying from poisons, all.

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Speaker 1: Right, So what can people do to help out at

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Speaker 1: this point in regards to this, You just want reports reports.

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Speaker 2: If they see a kangaroos that there, they think something's

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Speaker 2: not right. They just don't look right, like noses, swollen bellies.

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Speaker 2: Is something else that we're seeing. So even if it's not,

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Speaker 2: it doesn't have to be asked. There are numerous fantastic

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Speaker 2: rescue organizations across the hills, So just let someone know.

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Speaker 2: I think pretty much everyone's aware of what's going on.

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Speaker 2: And if you're going into your hardware store and they

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Speaker 2: have it there, maybe suggest that they take it off

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Speaker 2: the shells.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, the amount of kangaroo would have to eat to

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Speaker 1: die from pin done, I imagine it will be a

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Speaker 1: lot more than a rabbit would have to eat, or

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Speaker 1: a bandicoot or a possum.

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Speaker 2: So western grade kangaroo only has to have about one

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Speaker 2: to two milligram oh really of the tops and per

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Speaker 2: kilogram over a few days. So I mean, if they're

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Speaker 2: you know, if they generally hang around the same area

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Speaker 2: and they find these yummy snacks, they'll come back for them.

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Speaker 1: So farmers need to enclose it better, just let small

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Speaker 1: animals in and where it is. Whatever animals go in

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Speaker 1: and eat it if you're looking for pests. But if

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Speaker 1: a rabbit goes, and surely a bandicoot could go in,

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Speaker 1: or a possible yep, yep.

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Speaker 2: So I don't know how to do it safely, but

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Speaker 2: I think we need to be making sure we're not

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Speaker 2: impacting non target species with these heavy going Yeah. I

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Speaker 2: mean it's like rat bait.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well that's right exactly.

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Speaker 2: It stops them being able to coagulate, so they hemorrhage.

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Speaker 1: Well I'm glad you don't think it's deliberate, at least

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Speaker 1: that's the start. But even if it's accidental, that's not

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Speaker 1: good news, but interesting your numbers of kangaroos not changing

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Speaker 1: in five or so years, Linda, because speaking to farmers

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Speaker 1: down the Flurio Way of the Adelaide Hills, you know

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Speaker 1: they'll report mobs of thirty in their fields and that

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Speaker 1: hasn't been seen for ages years. So they do seem

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Speaker 1: to be out there. And you know, I was up

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Speaker 1: the northern part of the state a few weeks back

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Speaker 1: and one fellow told me he was told by someone

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Speaker 1: in Hawker. Driving thirty kilometers, he stopped counting at three hundred.

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Speaker 1: There's lots of it. I suppose. Okay, out back you'd

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Speaker 1: expect kangaroos, but there's a lot out there. There's no

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Speaker 1: doubt about that. The numbers that are out there now.

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Speaker 1: We haven't had real cols in years.

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Speaker 2: There's harvesting every year and that's been going on across

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Speaker 2: the state and it continues. But if you have a

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Speaker 2: look at the department's harvest records, which are available online,

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Speaker 2: you can see where what the numbers are. And five

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Speaker 2: years ago, twenty nineteen, the populations in Adelaide Fleuria weren't

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Speaker 2: that different than what they are now. The big rise

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Speaker 2: that happened not last year, in the year before. The

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Speaker 2: majority is that was changes to how they surveyed Tamar

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Speaker 2: Wallaby's on Tanger Island, which increased the population estimate by

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Speaker 2: some three hundred thousand, and six hundred thousand apparently were red.

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Speaker 2: So I mean, I'm not sure on the actually how

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Speaker 2: the surveying is works, but yeah, that's the majority. So

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Speaker 2: even with that big jum, the overwhelmingly majority of that

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Speaker 2: was not Western.

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Speaker 1: Great, okay, Linda, appreciate your time. We're going to speak

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Speaker 1: to primary industries in about an hour or so from

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Speaker 1: now and we'll see what they've got to say about it.

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Speaker 1: But thanks for bringing it to our attention. Not a problem,

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Speaker 1: Linda White, Adelaide Hills Kangaroo about rus being poisoned through

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Speaker 1: the hills and not limited to the hills as I said, Barossa,

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Speaker 1: Mount Barker, Normanville, milang Cambrai. So reports coming in from

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Speaker 1: surrounding areas too. The Adelaide Hills Kangaroo Rescue Facebook page,

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Speaker 1: but they're asking contact them, contact local wildlife organizations if

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Speaker 1: you see animals in distress,