Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday described as “pretty off” reports that tourism officials put a distressed kangaroo in a cage on a busy Los Angeles street to promote the country.
Tourism Australia was forced to defend its use of the kangaroo in a January “G’Day USA” marketing campaign in Beverly Hills after a video was posted on YouTube showing it swaying back and forth in apparent distress.
Rudd said he hadn’t seen the footage but expressed concern at what he had heard about the treatment of the animal.
“I’m pretty worried about the reports that I’ve seen, pretty worried, and it sounds pretty off to me,” Rudd told reporters.
“Many of us grew up in the days of Skippy, and you know something? If you’ve grown up in the days of Skippy you want to make sure that our national symbol is being properly respected in the way in which Australia projects itself abroad,” he said.
Iconic 1960s television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo followed the exploits of the animal, her young owner Sonny and rangers of the Waratah park.
The popular children’s series was shown in more than 80 countries and was one of Australia’s earliest cultural exports.
Tourism Australia spokeswoman Rachel Crowley said the performing ’roo in Los Angeles came from a reputable animal handler and was displayed only in four-hour stints.
But animal expert Tim Faulkner told News Limited newspapers the animal was clearly unwell.
“The animal is obviously distressed, there is no question about it,” Faulkner said after viewing the footage.
“The sort of stress I see here suggests it has endured long-term problems,” he said.
Bob Irwin, the father of late wildlife icon Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin, issued a statement from his hospital bed where he is recovering from a heart attack.
“It is a terrible image for Australia to send to the world, seeing a magnificent kangaroo treated in such a cruel way,” Irwin said.
“Where the bloody hell is the government? I trust the government will also take Tourism Australia to task on their poor judgment,” he said.
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
RSS