Australia youths sentenced for "quokka" killings
Date: 25-Apr-03
Country: AUSTRALIA
Fremantle Children's Court heard that the protected marsupials, which resemble a large, furry squirrel with a rat's tail, died of multiple trauma injuries.
The three teenagers, all aged 15 at the time of the crime, were charged under the Wildlife Conservation Act and ordered by magistrate Sue Gordon to undertake 60 hours community service at a marsupial hospital.
"They were all put on community-based service for three months and will have to work in an animal hospital," a court spokeswoman told Reuters.
Authorities on Rottnest have struggled for years to control alcohol-fuelled students who descend on the holiday island about 12 km (7.5 miles) from Perth after their final examinations and kick the docile animals in a cruel sport dubbed "quokka soccer".
Rottnest attracts about 400,000 tourists a year, many day-trippers from Perth, who come to see the 10,000 harmless herbivore quokkas which are native to the small island.
Mainland colonies of quokkas, which grow to the size of house cats, were devastated by wild cars, foxes, dogs and bulldozers.
