Post by Wolfie on Sept 5, 2008 0:58:00 GMT -5
THE latest attack on a child by a large wallaby in Cairns has sparked calls for a cull of the area's growing mob before someone is killed.
The Cairns Post reports concerned dad Alwyn "Bones" Bailey said if he had not been there to fight off the 1m-tall wallaby at White Rock on Saturday afternoon, he had no doubt his nine-year-old son Morgan would have been mauled to death.
"It’s deadset serious. Someone should get a gun and shoot the buggers," Mr Bailey said.
"They’re not just friendly, cute little wallabies any more – they’re killers."
The animal came at Morgan after he had been feeding bread to their horses in a paddock off Giffin Rd, near the Leichhardt Soccer Club grounds.
"This big fella came out and Morgan started to run and he started chasing him, making this roaring noise," Mr Bailey said.
"Morgan was absolutely screaming his head off.
"I had to belt him (the wallaby) across the face twice, then he came at me – he had his claws up, shaping up like a little boxing man.
"Then my young fella (six-year-old Bodine) grabbed a stick and he finally backed off," Mr Bailey said.
He said he knew of three other children who also were attacked by wallabies in the area on separate times last year, and that there are now thousands of the animals in White Rock, competing for grass on ever-dwindling parcels of undeveloped land.
An Environmental Protection Agency spokesman said attacks on humans by wild wallabies or kangaroos were extremely rare, but animals that were regularly fed could become conditioned to seeing people as a source of food then become frustrated and aggressive if they did not get it.
Source
The Cairns Post reports concerned dad Alwyn "Bones" Bailey said if he had not been there to fight off the 1m-tall wallaby at White Rock on Saturday afternoon, he had no doubt his nine-year-old son Morgan would have been mauled to death.
"It’s deadset serious. Someone should get a gun and shoot the buggers," Mr Bailey said.
"They’re not just friendly, cute little wallabies any more – they’re killers."
The animal came at Morgan after he had been feeding bread to their horses in a paddock off Giffin Rd, near the Leichhardt Soccer Club grounds.
"This big fella came out and Morgan started to run and he started chasing him, making this roaring noise," Mr Bailey said.
"Morgan was absolutely screaming his head off.
"I had to belt him (the wallaby) across the face twice, then he came at me – he had his claws up, shaping up like a little boxing man.
"Then my young fella (six-year-old Bodine) grabbed a stick and he finally backed off," Mr Bailey said.
He said he knew of three other children who also were attacked by wallabies in the area on separate times last year, and that there are now thousands of the animals in White Rock, competing for grass on ever-dwindling parcels of undeveloped land.
An Environmental Protection Agency spokesman said attacks on humans by wild wallabies or kangaroos were extremely rare, but animals that were regularly fed could become conditioned to seeing people as a source of food then become frustrated and aggressive if they did not get it.
Source
