“Gandhi said you judge a society by how they treat animals.”
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This is what Yankees Gap wildlife rescuer Kristine Smits said while trying to comprehend a Merimbula boater tossing juvenile silver gulls overboard in front of shocked children.
On Saturday, January 9, Ms Smits’ son Shane witnessed two men and a young boy tossing the baby birds as well as their nests and some eggs from a boat into the waters of Merimbula Lake.
Now seven young birds are being cared for my Ms Smits and another seven by local WIRES carers.
“We noticed the first dead gull floating lifeless in the water,” Mr Smits said.
“Kids were getting as many as they could out of the water and a lot would have drowned.
“To see the kids help was great and there were a lot of kids who realised the horror of it all.
“A woman on the beach said she saw them being hit and thrown into the water.”
Mr Smits said the mature gulls then went “ballistic” and began swooping the juveniles in the water, not recognising them as their own.
National Parks and the RSPCA were alerted to the incident and investigations are reportedly underway.
A spokesperson for NPWS said silver gulls are a native species and that under the Act it is an offence to harm them, – as it is for all native animals.
“We will investigate the incident and there is the potential for infringement notices to be issued.”
Mature silver gulls are known are a common sight along the Far South Coast, but many people would not have seen them in their nesting stage of development.
The birds breed between August and December and usually nest at ground level with a nest made of seaweed, roots, and plant stems.
Their nests can also be found in low shrubs, rocks and jetties with a typical clutch size of one to three eggs.
“They need a flat, dry surface to rest on which would normally be on cliffs or in the bush,” Ms Smits said when asked why the birds may have nested in the docked boat.
“We didn’t have foxes or cats when they evolved this way.”
This is the first time Ms Smits has cared for silver gulls, who are of unknown age.
“Seabird Rescue couldn’t take them because they only have one staff member who was already too busy,” she said.
“I had 14 birds a week ago and now WIRES has taken seven of them.”
Ms Smits feeds the animals meals made from the unusual combination of fish heads, grated cheese and a hard boiled egg.
“I want to thank Gail and Ron at Tackleworld and Tweedbait who have helped me out so much with small bags of bait to help feed them,” she said.
She also had advice for anyone finding themselves in the same situation as the alleged offender.
“There’s no need to kill them. Just contact WIRES or Wildlife Rescue,” Ms Smits said.
“Put the animals in a box and make a phone call, it’s easy.”