The Sale magistrate is to be very highly commended for jailing Murray James Silvester for slaughtering Wedge-tailed Eagles. It is unlikely that Silvester will kill native birds again.
As a criminal could he now be deported?
How much publicity did the magistrates decision attract ? Apart from Birding-aus I neither saw nor heard anything about it in the National media or elsewhere. From the Conservation view the jailing decision ought to be broadcast far and wide. Much more so than the prolonged outcry over culling six sharks in the Whitsundays. Wedgies are a much more visible and iconic native than Tiger Sharks.
Like genital mutilation and other unsavoury practices a small number of immigrants bring to Australia, shooting or otherwise killing our native fauna warrants zero tolerance, in Public Opinion and the Courts. Not that Australian born fauna killers are guiltless. Publicising the penalties would help a lot to minimise the killing.
Very Sincerely
Michael
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