Animal Justice Party claim tourism mascot Ruby the kangaroo would be ‘shot and hung up’ in real life
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Animal Justice Party claims star of new Australian tourism ads Ruby the ‘roo would be ‘shot’ in a cull and ‘hanged by one leg from the back of a ute’ if she were real
- Animal Justice Party MP Mark Pearson Responded to News of New Tourism Mascot
- Tourism Australia promotes a kangaroo mascot, ‘Ruby the Roo’
- Mr Pearson said that in real life the mascot would be shot and hanged by his leg
- Animal welfare advocates call for ‘out of control’ ‘roo culling must stop’
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A politician elected to an animal rights platform has made fun of Tourism Australia’s new mascot, Ruby the ‘roo, who claimed he would be shot in real life and hanged from the back of a ute.
NSW Animal Justice Party MP Mark Pearson said the push to attract tourists with the fresh new face was not telling the whole truth about how kangaroos are treated in Australia.
The claim came amid calls to stamp out the ‘out of control’ culling of the animal.
Animal Justice Party MP Mark Pearson said the kangaroo is undergoing the biggest commercial kill of all land animals in the world (pictured, Ruby the ‘roo)
Pearson said the ads don’t tell the whole truth about how kangaroos are treated in Australia (pictured, an injured kangaroo being targeted by hunters near the Mogo Forest on the south coast of NSW)
“If the tourism industry is going to have our icon on our coat of arms for Australia, talk about what we actually do with kangaroos,” Pearson said on Thursday.
“If Tourism Australia’s brand ambassador Ruby Roo was real she would have been shot as part of a government ‘Kangaroo Management Plan’ and hanged by her leg from the back of a ute,” Pearson said in a statement.
He said the killing of 20 million kangaroos a year, despite the animal being recognized worldwide as an Aussie symbol, is an exaggeration.
“If the tourism industry is going to have our icon on our coat of arms for Australia, talk about what we actually do with kangaroos,” Pearson said. Ben Fordham on Thursday.
“A lot of people say they don’t see the kangaroos we used to see anymore.”
He said he had traveled through the Northern Territory and into South Australia and saw only one kangaroo, dead by the side of the road.
The animal advocate added that the kangaroo is undergoing the largest commercial killing of all land animals in the world.
“We need to come together on how to live with these animals, not kill them,” he said.
Fordham fired back with statistics that 45 million of the marsupials were counted in 2016, and that number will most likely rise to 50 million.
But Mr Pearson said a NSW survey of kangaroos welfare and welfare has found that marsupial numbers are unknown.
Ruby the ‘roo, voiced by Rose Byrne, will be paraded on electronic billboards around the world to promote Tourism Australia’s latest campaign, ‘Come and Say G’Day’ (pictured)
“The counting mechanisms and methodology are under serious debate,” he said.
“We can’t keep saying we’re being overrun by kangaroos, they’ve been here for millions of years, trying to survive.”
Fordham added that the NSW Farmers Association claimed that kangaroos compete with livestock for cover and that there is too much ‘dandruff’ in the landscape.
The computer-generated kangaroo in the ad was unveiled this week to follow in the footsteps of celebrities Paul Hogan, Chris Hemsworth and Laura Bingle – former faces of Australian tourism.
Ruby the ‘roo, voiced by Rose Byrne, will parade around the world on electronic billboards to promote Tourism Australia’s latest campaign, ‘Come and Say G’Day’.
The computer-generated kangaroo was unveiled Wednesday to follow in the footsteps of celebrities Paul Hogan, Chris Hemsworth and Laura Bingle (pictured)