Shipment Of Elephants To Australia Blocked

[george]

NGO blocks shipment of elephants to Australia

BANGKOK: -- A Kanchanaburi wildlife conservation group announced that it won't negotiate with the government and waits for the result of DNA testing to verify whether the Australia-bound elephants are home-bred or from the wild.

The Kan Conservation Group has blocked the shipment of eight elephants to Australia on the grounds that the elephants may have been captured from the wild and may have difficulties adjusting to life in captivity.

Mrs. Pinan Chotirosseranee, head of the group, said Kan is not prepared to negotiate a concession with Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon.

The opponents stood by their demand that the government conduct DNA test to determine the origin of the pachyderms.

Mrs. Pinan said Kan has received no news regarding the DNA test--despite the promise made through the mass media by Environment Minister Yongyut Tiyapairat that he assigned the National Park,Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department to expedite testing two weeks ago.

The pachyderm activist leader said that to her knowledge no tests have been conducted on the eight elephants and they have not left the veterinary hospital in the Kanchanaburi campus of Mahidol University.

"We are quite concerned about the training effort to reacclimatise these elephants by training them to eat bread, peel pineapples," she said.

"Elephants normally eat 100-200 kilogrammes of fruit and [wild] vegetation every day. With a new diet, they won't last longer than 20 years compared to the average lifespan of 70-90 years in the Thai forests," the activist said.

--TNA 2006-06-29

[Thai-Aust]

NGO blocks shipment of elephants to Australia

"We are quite concerned about the training effort to reacclimatise these elephants by training them to eat bread, peel pineapples," she said.

Yeh! not to mention vegamite, baked beans .....

[h90]

NGO blocks shipment of elephants to Australia

"We are quite concerned about the training effort to reacclimatise these elephants by training them to eat bread, peel pineapples," she said.

Yeh! not to mention vegamite, baked beans .....

yes I would also not last long with that....

[leisurely]

Excellent. Thank goodness there are enough people around like this to take action.

[Johpa]

Excellent. Thank goodness there are enough people around like this to take action.

Au contraire, Khun Pinan's actions are totally misguided and ill-informed. Her argument that these are possibly recently captured wild elephants is preposterous. The plight of Thailand's unemployed domesticated elephant population is detestable. The idea that elephants in the wild are in better health than elephants in modern well-designed and well-maintained zoo sanctuaries is simply wrong. I suspect this woman has her heart in the correct place but is simply unwilling to see the truth of the situation.

Thailand has a surplus of domesticated elephants and currently it does not have any facility, not to mention the funds, to help this national symbol. As far as I am concerned, eight elephants off to Australia, a country that has in residence one of the world's leading zoo architects who has designed some really impressive elephant enclosures, is eight elephants not ending up in misery or upon a dinner plate up in China.

[Snotty]

So where do all the wild elephants hide in Thailand ??

Probably with all the wild tigers that no one has seen for 10 to 20 years

[Jai Dee]

Eight elephants bound for Australia yet to have their DNA examined

There has not yet been any move to test DNA of eight elephants bound for Australia as requested by conservationists.

Shipment of these elephants has been suspended following protests by elephant conservation groups which demanded DNA testing to prove they were domesticated and not from the wild.

Pinan Chotirosserani (ภินันทน์ โชติรสเศรณี), chairman of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, said nothing has been done one month after caretaker Natural Resource and Environment Minster Yongyuth Tiyapairat (ยงยุทธ ติยะไพรัช) pledged to have elephant DNA examined by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department and the Zoological Park Organization.

Mrs. Pinan said conservation groups will not allow the export of the eight elephants until they are proved to really be domesticated.

The Australian Embassy, meanwhile, said it could not arrange for the DNA tests because that was not stated in the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 03 July 2006

[Nignoy]

So where do all the wild elephants hide in Thailand ??

Probably with all the wild tigers that no one has seen for 10 to 20 years

you probably wont see any wild tigers in the bars in Pattaya or Patong they are are scarce in Patpong too, but they are there if you know where too look,we were lucky enough to film a tigress and cub near pattani last year, as far as wild elephants are concerned have seen a few near mai sai a couple of years ago,still say leave the elephants in thailand whether wild caught or domestic, australian zoo staffs intentions are well meant, but sadly not very many qualified experienced elephant keepers are available Nignoy

[womble]

If they are domesticated then no problem with them being sent to Australia, Thailand has many domesticated elephants that would indeed be better off being properly taken care of in an Australian zoo. Many elephants in Thailand are well cared for, unfortunatley many are not. Elephants on the streets of Bangkok should be banned in my opinion.

If the Elephants are wild then the shipment should be stopped and they should be returned to their natural habitat. Anyone involved should be prosecuted, heavily!

[bina]

meanwhile, said elephants are stuck in quarantine in a vet hospital .... for indefinate amount of time....

nignoy, wont they be in chronic stress syndrom, which shortens life span anyway????

[george]

Authorities veto DNA tests of Australia-bound pachyderms

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department on Monday reconfirmed its earlier rejection of requests for DNA testing to verify the demographic status of eight Thai elephants earmarked for Australian zoos, saying it will carry out the export of the pachyderms as planned.

The elephants have certificates issued by the Interior Ministry to prove that they were bred in captivity and did not come from the wild.

If done, the DNA testing would be seen as an intrusion on the interior ministry's function, which is seen as inappropriate.

If the tests are required, they should be carried out by the Interior Ministry itself, which previously certified the elephants' status, according to the department's Deputy Director General Schwann Tunhikorn.

The eight elephants, aged 3 to 8 years, are awaiting shipment to Sydney's Taronga Zoo and the Melbourne Zoo under an elephant-koala exchange programme earlier agreed between Thailand and Australia.

The pact involves eight koalas and some other native animals from Australia to be exported to Thailand in exchange.

The project has drawn vigourous opposition from doubtful animal right activists and academics who demanded a halt to the elephant shipment until it can be proved that the Australia-bound elephants are domestically-bred, not from the wild.

In response, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yongyut Tiyapairat said last month he would order the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, assigned to mediate an agreement, to conduct the tests.

But activists claimed that the department did not do what the minister promised.

"The department has done everything properly according to official certificates issued by another agency," Mr. Schwann said.

If critics doubt the certificates or the procedures involved, he said, "it should be the duty of that agency to do the examination again. If any wrongdoing was found, legal action would be taken against those responsible."

Mr. Schwann also expressed doubt regarding the accuracy of such DNA testing.

He noted that at present, testing in Thailand is yet to be fully standardised.

The deputy director general said his department would proceed with dispatching the pachyderms to Australia.

Shipping will commence once transportation arrangements are concluded, he said.

But for the moment, the schedule has yet to be finalised.

--TNA 2006-06-04

[Jai Dee]

Conservation groups urged to clear doubts about 8 elephants with the Interior Ministry

The Natural Resource and Environment Ministry urges Kanchanaburi Conservation Group to check with the Interior Ministry if it still does not believe that eight elephants to be sent to Australia are domesticated.

Ministry spokesman Apiwat Settharak (อภิวัฒน์ เศรษฐรักษ์) said his ministry has checked the identities of these elephants by comparing descriptions of the animals given in registration papers with data from the microchips implanted into the elephants by the Interior Ministry and found all were legally- registered domesticated elephants.

Mr. Apiwat said the conservation group, which is protesting against the shipment of the eight elephants to Australia, should ask the Interior Ministry to help clear its suspicions.

Chawan Thanhikorn (ชวาล ทัฬหิกรณ์), deputy director-general of the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, meanwhile, said a special condition set in the memorandum of understanding that Thai elephant calves born in Australia will belong to that country was meant to save Asian elephants from extinction.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 04 July 2006

[Nignoy]

meanwhile, said elephants are stuck in quarantine in a vet hospital .... for indefinate amount of time....

nignoy, wont they be in chronic stress syndrom, which shortens life span anyway????

any form of breakdown in normal daily routine causes stress in captive animals, but I suggest we dont mention stress as far as australian wildlife authorities are concerned especially with the koalas that are being swapped for the elephants, For example QueenslandParks and wild life regulations are so Paranoid as far as the stress in koala handling is concerned, koalas in facilities in queensland are only allowed to be handled a maxim of 3x30 minutes over a 7 day period, to conteract stress which is a reasonable rule, even if the book keeping for 30 or 40 koalas being handled daily is horrendous, but also the medical care in such cases is intensive and expensive, as Many of my Koala keepers from Gondwana Wildlife Sanctuary will verify ,we had a 6 year oldmale Koala called Legend, irrepairable kidney damage, had to be drip hydrated and paste fed , the authorities refused me permission to euthanise this animal, for 12 months this poor creature was kept painfully alive at a cost of 4000dollars australian a month,the sanctuary closed down, the koalas where handed over to Queensland parks and wildlfe authorities , the first thing they did was euthanise Legend after forcing me to torture that poor creature for 12 months. This is just an example of the lackof knowledge in zoological care in australia, as I have stated many times before there is a small core of well trained and dedicated Zoo keepers here in australia but they are far out weighed , by the cute and cuddly huggers or the Crikey brigade who the animal kingdom and the public should be protected from, Please leave the elephants in thailand!! Nignoy

[fisherd3]

Excellent. Thank goodness there are enough people around like this to take action.

Au contraire, Khun Pinan's actions are totally misguided and ill-informed. Her argument that these are possibly recently captured wild elephants is preposterous. The plight of Thailand's unemployed domesticated elephant population is detestable. The idea that elephants in the wild are in better health than elephants in modern well-designed and well-maintained zoo sanctuaries is simply wrong. I suspect this woman has her heart in the correct place but is simply unwilling to see the truth of the situation.

Thailand has a surplus of domesticated elephants and currently it does not have any facility, not to mention the funds, to help this national symbol. As far as I am concerned, eight elephants off to Australia, a country that has in residence one of the world's leading zoo architects who has designed some really impressive elephant enclosures, is eight elephants not ending up in misery or upon a dinner plate up in China.

Sounds about right to me

[Jai Dee]

Thai goods may face a boycott if problems concerning 8 elephants are not settled

World Wildlife Fund Thailand (WWFT) warns Thailand can be boycotted by other countries if it fails to make things clear about the status of eight elephants set to be shipped to an Australian zoo.

The shipment has been suspended in the wake of protests by conservation groups which suspect the elephants are not domesticated but are from the wild. They demand the examination of DNA of those elephants but so far no action has been taken.

WWFT secretary-general Surapol Duangkhae (สุรพล ดวงแข) said state agencies are only buying time by holding others responsible for the identification of the elephants. Mr. Surapol said the Natural Resource and Environment Ministry actually has full authority to order checks on the origins of the elephants.

He said it seemed the government still has not had an exit for the problem and warned delay will only damage Thailand’s reputation.

Mr. Surapol said exports of Thailand’s leather products and some agricultural goods used to be boycotted by neighbouring countries after the then government failed to tackle illegal wildlife trade in 1991. He said he is concerned history might repeat itself.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 05 July 2006

[george]

Update:

Legal action is last resort

AUSTRALIA: -- Two Australian zoos say legal action will only be taken as a last resort to prevent animal rights activists blocking the delivฌery of eight Asian elephants to Sydney and Melbourne, Australian media reported.

Local activists prevented the elephants from leaving a facility near Kanchanaburi a month ago. They suspect some of the elephants were born in the wild and want DNA checks to ensure they are captive-bred. They also fear the animals would suffer in their new homes at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo and Melbourne Zoo.

The protest stopped the eight elephants being flown to a quarantine centre on the Cocos Islands, where they were due to stay for three months before being sent to the zoos for a conservation project.

ABC TV reported the zoos were considering legal action against the activists standing in their way.

But a spokesman for the zoos, said on Wednesday any talk of legal action to recover transport costs was "premature at best".

"That's just something that could be considered in the future," Mark Williams said. "At the moment we're focused on bringing the animals here."

Mr Williams told the AAP news agency the cost of the failed transฌport operation was "in the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars". However a zoo spokesman told The Nation last week the cost was Bt49 million (A$1.7 million), mainly for the rent of a cargo plane that sat idle at Don Muang airport.

The zoos say they have met all the necessary regulations in bringing the elephants to Australia, which Williams classed as a "vital conservation project".

The elephants, meanwhile, were very happy, he was quoted saying.

"They're completely impervious to this. They're having a lovely life. They get all their meals catered for. They're in daily training programs, they work every day with their keepers and it's just a beautiful sitฌuation. They have integrated wonฌderfully as families."

Mr Williams said opposition to the transfer did not make any sense.

"We're no longer displaying animals like zoos did 30 years ago, just because you want to display them," he said. "Globally you have to justify every decision that you make to display an animal ... and we do that all the time."

--The Nation 2006-07-05

[giffarine]

Legal action is last resort

Two Australian zoos say legal action will only be taken as a last resort to prevent animal rights activists blocking the delivฌery of eight Asian elephants to Sydney and Melbourne, Australian media reported.

Local activists prevented the elephants from leaving a facility near Kanchanaburi a month ago. They suspect some of the elephants were born in the wild and want DNA checks to ensure they are captive-bred. They also fear the animals would suffer in their new homes at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo and Melbourne Zoo.

The protest stopped the eight elephants being flown to a quarantine centre on the Cocos Islands, where they were due to stay for three months before being sent to the zoos for a conservation project.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/07/05...es_30008062.php

Legal action? Who are they going to sue???

[Nignoy]

Legal action is last resort

Two Australian zoos say legal action will only be taken as a last resort to prevent animal rights activists blocking the delivฌery of eight Asian elephants to Sydney and Melbourne, Australian media reported.

Local activists prevented the elephants from leaving a facility near Kanchanaburi a month ago. They suspect some of the elephants were born in the wild and want DNA checks to ensure they are captive-bred. They also fear the animals would suffer in their new homes at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo and Melbourne Zoo.

The protest stopped the eight elephants being flown to a quarantine centre on the Cocos Islands, where they were due to stay for three months before being sent to the zoos for a conservation project.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/07/05...es_30008062.php

Conservation Project new attraction for the public, more visitors more profit, endangered species conservancy is a joke in australia, humpback whales and dolphins getting tangled in sharknets every year on the gold coast, dugongs being wiped out in moreton bay,koala habitat demolished for building developments!!To read about conservancy in Queensland ,NSW and Victoria, take a look in smuggled.com, Nignoy

Legal action? Who are they going to sue???

[the swagman]

what's all the fuss about.

Taronga Park zoo and Melbourne zoo are world renown. They have excellent vets and facilities, the elephants will be fed on a regular basis and they will enjoying the company of other elephants.

Better than walking the steets of some god forsaken tourist trap waiting for handouts of old sugar cane and taro roots.

[astral]

It is great shame this has been stopped.

It would be a great way of getting rid of the elephants in government.

[Jai Dee]

Australia postpones the delivery of four koalas to Thailand

Australia has postponed the delivery of koalas to Thailand until disputes over the true origins of eight Thai elephants to be sent to that country are settled.

Sopon Damnui (โสภณ ดำนุ้ย), director of the Zoological Park Organization, said four koalas were earlier scheduled to arrive in Bangkok yesterday but Australia has postponed the shipment until problems concerning the eight elephants can be solved.

Conservation groups suspected the elephants are from the wild and not domesticated. Their protests led to the suspension of the export of the pachyderms. They also demanded DNA examinations to prove that the animals really are domesticated.

Mr. Sopon said Australia is worried the disputes might affect relations between the two countries and so wants solutions to be worked out soon.

He said Australia has already spent about 40 million baht preparing the transport of the elephants to its country.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 6 July 2006

[Nignoy]

Australia postpones the delivery of four koalas to Thailand

Australia has postponed the delivery of koalas to Thailand until disputes over the true origins of eight Thai elephants to be sent to that country are settled.

Sopon Damnui (โสภณ ดำนุ้ย), director of the Zoological Park Organization, said four koalas were earlier scheduled to arrive in Bangkok yesterday but Australia has postponed the shipment until problems concerning the eight elephants can be solved.

Conservation groups suspected the elephants are from the wild and not domesticated. Their protests led to the suspension of the export of the pachyderms. They also demanded DNA examinations to prove that the animals really are domesticated.

Mr. Sopon said Australia is worried the disputes might affect relations between the two countries and so wants solutions to be worked out soon.

He said Australia has already spent about 40 million baht preparing the transport of the elephants to its country.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 6 July 2006

Oh No will australia be cutting off the export of vegemite too what a catastrophe and that on top of the blues getting a flogging last night Nignoy

[ratcatcher]

Fallen friend A seriously ill wild elephant lies in a pool of mud near Klong Yai Thai village in Chanthaburi’s Kaeng Hang Maew district yesterday. Local forestry officials said a veterinary team was giving the 50-year-old elephant medical help.

[

Casualty of war Seven-month-old Mocha struggles to stand up at the Elephant Hospital in Lampang yesterday. The calf is undergoing treatment for a leg mangled last month by a landmine in Tak’s Tha Song Yang district near the Burmese border.

No further comment is necessary!

Edited July 12, 2006 by ratcatcher

[Jai Dee]

Eight Thai elephants bound for Australia were moved out of Kanchanaburi

Eight Thai elephants have been moved from Kanchanaburi to U-tapao (อู่ตะเภา) airport in Chon Buri since July 29.

The elephants were to be sent to Australia last month but the transport was disrupted by conservation groups which suspected the animals were not domesticated but were from the wild.

Pinan Chotiroseranee (ภินันท์ โชติรสเศรณี), chairman of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, said the elephants had been taken away allegedly by more than 100 policemen and soldiers after her group received the government’s letter agreeing to examine their DNA to determine if they were from the wild or not on July 28.

Mrs. Pinan said that was the robbery of national treasures which also showed that the elephants were really from the wild.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 31 July 2006

[Jai Dee]

Four elephants flown to Australia

Four of eight elephants destined for a zoo in Australia were flown from the military U-tapao airport Sunday afternoon.

The eight elephants arrived at the airport at noon and four of them were flown on a plane at 2 pm.

The rest of elephants were kept at the back of the airport waiting for the next sortie.

Source: The Nation - 31 July 2006

[Jai Dee]

Activists protest elephant-koala deal

Wildlife activists have said they will still petition the Administrative Court over the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry's plan to send eight elephants to Australian zoos despite four of the animals having already been shipped out of the country yesterday.

The eight young elephants were secretly transported from Mahidol University's animal hospital in Sai Yok district to the U-Tapao International Airport in Chon Buri on Saturday night.

The convoy was guarded by about 100 police and Army officials who blocked off animal rights activists who got wind of the move and went to observe it, said Suraphol Duangkhae, secretary-general of the Wildlife Fund Thailand.

Four of the elephants were flown away in a Russian cargo plane yesterday while the others are being kept in a small forest behind the airport.

The elephants are to be given to two zoos in Sydney and Melbourne under an exchange agreement called the "Joint Cooperation in Captive Animal Management Programmes between Australia and Thailand".

Originally scheduled to take place in June, the transfer was halted temporarily after activists in Kanchanaburi, where the elephants were kept originally, blockaded the move.

Pinan Chotirosserani, head of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, said he tried to follow the convoy of elephants on Saturday night but could not reach the airport in time.

"As soon as the trucks entered the airport, the gate was closed and guarded by about 20 police and Army officers," Pinan said.

The airport has been declared off-limits to outsiders until Thursday, he said.

Pinan said the activists now planned to protest in front of the Australian Embassy in Bangkok instead.

"The transfer of the elephants goes against the assurance that the Natural Resources and Environment minister and CEOs of the Australian zoos gave us that DNA tests would be conducted on the elephants to confirm that they were born in captivity, not in the wild," Suraphol said.

Animal welfare activists believe the elephants are from the wild, which would make their export a contravention of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

He said the elephants' transfer was suspicious as it took place just before the activists' planned complaint to the Administrative Court today.

Activist Prasarn Maruekpitak said the secretive transfer was because the government urgently wanted to get four koalas in return from Australia to show at the Chiang Mai Night Safari.

Soraida Salwala, secretary-general of Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation, yesterday released an open letter condemning the Thai government for sending the animals overseas.

The letter expresses the activists' sorrow to Thais for failing to protect the elephants, which are a national symbol.

Source: The Nation - 31 July 2006

[Scott]

What's this world coming to?! It's easier for 8 elephants of dubious origin to get into Australia than most Thai people.

[Johpa]

What's this world coming to?! It's easier for 8 elephants of dubious origin to get into Australia than most Thai people.

Perhaps the Thais should require a DNA test for every Aussie visa seeker to determine whether they are bastards or not. I would imagine that a single DNA sample from a human should be able to answer that question as easily a a single DNA sample from an elephant would be able to determine whether the pachyderm originated from wild or domestic stock.

Melbourne is home to the world's leading and most progressive zoo architect. I am hopeful for these elephants.

[Nignoy]

What's this world coming to?! It's easier for 8 elephants of dubious origin to get into Australia than most Thai people.

Perhaps the Thais should require a DNA test for every Aussie visa seeker to determine whether they are bastards or not. I would imagine that a single DNA sample from a human should be able to answer that question as easily a a single DNA sample from an elephant would be able to determine whether the pachyderm originated from wild or domestic stock.

Melbourne is home to the world's leading and most progressive zoo architect. I am hopeful for these elephants.

[/quote How is the residency of a zoo architect , going to help the elephants now on their way to melbourne zoo, it is the keepers who will be scrutinised and their knowledge put to the test, now the deed has happened, just wish everyone concerned great success with their new charges Nignoy

[Jai Dee]

Thai elephants to face pressure to breed

THE first attempt at artificial insemination of an Asian elephant in Australia has failed, putting pressure on Sydney and Melbourne zoos to use the technique with their Thai elephants.

Zoos say that rather than being used to attract customers, which would be a breach of international wildlife trade law, the eight Thai elephants will form the nucleus of a breeding herd for conservation.

But no Asian elephant has yet been successfully bred in Australia.

The difficult technique was tried with a bull, Putramas, and a cow, Permai, both aged 16, at the Perth Zoo, it was learned yesterday.

However, the procedure had failed to achieve a pregnancy, a Perth Zoo spokeswoman said.

"AI with elephants is a very invasive procedure that can require very heavy-handed tactics," said the RSPCA's Jane Speechley.

"The lack of success in Perth shows that the procedure is in its infancy, and these elephants should not be subjected to these kind of experiments."

Environment Minister Ian Campbell said the zoos' overall breeding program was a significant and exciting attempt to help an endangered species.

Neither the Sydney nor Melbourne zoo officials could be reached for comment.

Senator Campbell welcomed the transfer of the elephants, which was accomplished with the help of the Thai Government.

Last night the zoos were hoping to complete the transfer to the Cocos Islands for further quarantine before the eight are flown to mainland Australia — four cows and one bull to Sydney's Taronga, and three cows to the Melbourne Zoo.

Already long delayed by court action by Australian animal welfare groups, the departure of the eight from Thailand was held up by a local protest blockade in June, forcing the postponement of the shipment.

Early on Sunday the elephants were transferred from a quarantine station in rural Thailand to a military base in Bangkok, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

"Right from the outset there has been no transparency in this," campaigner Rebecca Brand said.

Taronga Zoo said in a statement that late on Sunday the eight beasts were flown out, bound for the Cocos, on a Russian air freighter, but yesterday confirmed that only four had left on the first flight.

Instead of the planned Antanov aircraft, they were limited to a smaller Ilyushin, and the second group of four was expected to arrive in the Cocos about 9 o'clock last night.

The animals, which are travelling in individual boxes, had arrived safely and in good condition, Taronga Zoo media manager Mark Williams said.

Taronga director Guy Cooper, who was personally overseeing the shipment, said it was a tremendous feeling to be bringing the "precious" cargo to Australian territory, and one step closer to their eventual homes in the zoos' multimillion-dollar facilities.

Cocos Islands Council chief executive Michael Simms said the elephants would be kept in extensive yards and sheds on West Island.

These are being maintained by the zoos under the supervision of the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service. "Everyone here is just so happy to see these animals," Mr Simms said. "There are no negative feelings at all."

Source: The Age - 1 August 2006