Campaign rages to prevent cockatoo cull

Residents in Potts Point are running a campaign to prevent the killing of their local cockatoos.

A petition, which has gathered more than 300 signatures, was sent to NSW Parks and Wildlife Service after local property owners applied for a licence to cull the birds because they had damaged their buildings.

Katrina Moriarty one of the residents heading the campaign said giving out permits to kill the birds would be unethical and an inefficient way of preventing the cockatoos from vandalising buildings.

“It has been documented that previous culls of sulphur crested cockatoos in Potts Point and other parts of Sydney have not worked. There are many humane and much more effective alternatives to culling as a form of property protection,” the petition said.

The petition, which has been published online, has received 313 signatures so far.

Councillor Irene Doutney, who signed the petition and campaigned against previous decisions to cull cockatoos in the city, is urging NSW Parks and Wildlife Service to at least delay the decision.

“We are going to contact them and let them know that there is an 80 plus signature petition,” she said.

“I had a look at the building [last week] and find the whole thing hard to understand.”

NSW Parks and Wildlife Service are reviewing the issue and are yet to produce a decision on the matter.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP wrote to NSW Parks and Wildlife Service last week supporting the campaign to stop the cull.

Ms Moore wrote she “supports the National Parks and Wildlife Service working with residents and animal welfare groups to find humane ways of managing cockatoos where they cause damage”.

Ms Moriarty said a number of wilderness and animal rights groups are helping to communicate the campaign.

Websites such as care2.com and savingourtrees.wordpress.com are among the organisations contributing.

The petition can be signed online at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-cockatoo-culls-in-potts-point.html