The background to this situation was that the Victorian Government had introduced a full commercial wildlife trade in late 2019, following a trial which had commenced in 2014.

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Suddenly the Kangaroos that surrounded Frank’s and Jane’s home and Yoga retreat and the animals they loved and knew so well, as shooters arrived unannounced and during the night, were being shot and butchered where they fell.

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The Kangaroos were being killed for profit and turned into pet food. The tension and anxiety was terrible.

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Jane and Frank had been totally ignored when they complained to the Victorian Government and the shooting had continued.

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Never knowing when the shooters are going to come means anxiety and the need for continual vigilance. The spotlights shining into the house, the panic of animals, the gun fire. The grim scenes of butchering.

The shooters come and the killing begins again.

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One brave little Kangaroo survived the slaughter that night. Here is Aasha’s story.

Frank and Jane tell the story.

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We went for a walk after that night’s shooting to check for injured Kangaroos.

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We found Aasha lying on the ground, she could not get up so we put a blanket over her.

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We went to look for other injured Kangaroos and found one other joey but could not catch it. We went back to Aasha, still under the blanket, all this just next to the Yoga retreat.

“We knew they were shooting and we knew they bash the joeys over the head”. Frank

We carried Aasha gently into the house and placed her on the blanket in our laundry. Her mother had been killed and butchered on that terrible night and Aasha had been hit over the head in an attempt to kill her. A large bump on her head slowly went down, we think she was knocked unconscious with the first blow and that saved her life.

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Little Aasha, her eyes bulging, was in absolute shock. We gave her milk from a bottle and she chewed through the first teat. For two days she was too weak to stand.

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Unusually for Kangaroos, Aasha began drinking from a cup that we held in front of her.

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As she grew a little stronger, we started to take her outside and made a little pen for her. She began to eat the grass. There was a beautiful patch of native grasses and she loved that.

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It was a remarkable recovery from that cruel and terrible night. We called her Aasha, because one of the meanings of Aasha in Sanskrit is hope. We did not think she would survive the trauma but we hoped and hoped, and she did survive.

When we look back at the original photos you would have thought she cannot survive. She was so gaunt, she was so terrified. So many Kangaroos had died that night and we were not able to save any of them.

She stayed in the pen for a couple of weeks and then we left the gate open for her and she decided to join the small mob that lives here. In the beginning the other Kangaroos chased her away but eventually they accepted her.

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She has always been a bit separate because of what happened to her. During the day she sleeps near the mob so is part of that mob and wants to be with them.

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Aasha began leaving the safety of the mob, we think she was being drawn to find her original family. There are two Kangaroos here that did not have the protection of their mother, Aasha is one of those, and that sets them apart. We think that is why Aasha keeps looking out there.

One of the big male Kangaroos, Ears, we called him Ears because he had one of his ears shot off by commercial shooters, protected Aasha and helped her join the new mob.

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When Aasha first joined the new mob, she was very small so the other Kangaroos could easily push her away. There were other young Kangaroos in the mob and as they all got older Aasha became more confident.  

The months passed and Aasha became pregnant. A beautiful and caring little mother.

Aasha’s joey started to leave her pouch, an exciting time for young Kangaroos learning to hop, joyously hopping around in little circles close to mum.

Kangaroos are very social animals and have friends in the mob. For Aasha it was Angel, a Kangaroo of similar age. Aasha and Angel would go off together on some outside adventures.

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One day the foxes came, Aasha’s joey was killed and we found the poor little animal under a bush. When the joey died, Aasha was calling out and came rushing here and then kept going back to this one spot.

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We could not find the baby there but kept looking, then Jane found the baby close to where Aasha was. So Aasha was right and she knew where her  joey was, but it was not coming to her.

Aasha would stay with her dead baby joey and lick it, then go back to the other Kangaroos, then back again to the joey, holding its little head in her hands and lifting the joeys tiny head in the hope of finding life. Then she would stand next to it for long periods. So we placed the dead joey closer to the mob so they could all be together and then Aasha seemed to become more settled.

As Autumn turned to winter and winter to Spring, Aasha was with joey once more, So the cycle of life repeated itself. The joey still in pouch.

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One night Aasha and Angel went on their adventures. That night the commercial shooters were out.

The Kangaroo mums did not come home.

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We all searched and searched but no trace of Aasha or Angel. We did manage to trace a joey that had been taken by a shooter and get that back and take the little joey to a wildlife carer.

We think that rescued animal was Aasha’s joey.

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In Aasha’s short life and as a mother, she never had the chance to see her joeys survive and join the mob. The cruelty she faced from humans, this dear little animal, was so terrible and so very cruel.

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In deep sadness we think of Aasha each and every day. We think of her pointless killing for a small amount of money, perhaps $20 if the shooter was lucky. As for Aasha, her short life did have meaning, a famous little Kangaroo who appeared on posters and in films and stories, in doing so helping the fight to protect these wonderful animals.

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Thank you, Aasha, for every minute we knew and loved you. You will always be in our hearts.

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