Mystery of Bloodless, Decapitated Kangaroos in Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne is the capital of Victoria state in southeastern tip of Australia with a population of 3.5 million people.

Australian kangaroo mother and baby © by George Harrison.

August 13, 2005 Melbourne, Australia – Unusual, bloodless mutilations of animals is a worldwide phenomenon. The types of animals range from cows and horses to smaller domestic animals such as pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits and even wild animals such as deer and elk. Then there are the terrible cases of pet dogs and cats being found cut in half or beheaded or paws cut off and skinned all without blood or signs of struggle at the scene where found. Recently half cats by the dozens have been reported again in the Seattle, Washington, region and Dallas, Texas. I’ve reported on Dreamland about the Seattle situation which authorities there dismissed as coyote kills.

Now this week comes more mutilated cat news from Dallas. Between February and July, there have been seven dead and bloodlessly cut up cats found on lawns and reported to police. A 2-year-old feline was found cut in pieces in the Northaven Park area of northwest Dallas in March. A Dallas police spokesperson told reporters, “The detectives don’t know who or what caused the injuries.” But Dallas animal services like authorities in the Seattle region say it’s probably the work of coyotes.

But local residents don’t agree. The Dallas Morning News interviewed 73-year-old Caroline Swann, a retired junior high science teacher living in Lake Highlands in Dallas. In June she found parts of a cat on her lawn. No blood. Then two days later, there were more cat parts in exactly the same spot in her yard. Based on the physical evidence, Mrs. Swann thinks the parts were from two different cats. About the police explanation that the cut up cats were left by coyotes, she told the newspaper reporter, “I’ve lived in this house for 44 years and haven’t seen a coyote in twenty years. I know the police were trying to say things that would allay fears, but I looked at it from a scientific standpoint.

In another July 23rd cat kill in Far North Dallas, a resident found part of her 12-year-old cat on the front yard. The owner told the News, “The veterinarian said this was done by a human. there was no blood where we found her. People who do this, there’s no telling what they’re capable of. It’s very, very sick and scary.”

Those same words could be applied to another sliced up animal mystery in the Southern Hemisphere. Forty-five minutes by car northeast of downtown Melbourne, Australia, is the Yarrambat Golf Course. For the past two months, Something horrible has been happening there to kangaroos on the neat, green grass. And yet, no one at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was contacted until Tuesday, August 9. What the RSPCA heard this week is so baffling, so unprecedented, that authorities are at a loss to explain what’s happened. Groundkeepers in the early mornings of twelve different days, have found kangaroos dead and decapitated their heads cut off. Yet, no blood and no signs of struggle in the well-kept grass. This week I talked about the bizarre kangaroo deaths with Catherine Smith, Senior Inspector of the Victoria RSPCA based in Burwood East, Victoria, Australia.

Interview:

Catherine Smith, Senior Inspector, Victoria Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), Burwood East, Victoria, Australia: “The strange thing is that the kangaroos have been found deceased and beheaded on the golf course for a period of approximately the last ten weeks. Over that time there have been about 12 different kangaroos that have been found. They have been of varying size and age, male and female, but have all had their heads and in some of the smaller ones, the larger portion of the top part of their body – actually removed. The heads of them have not been found.

THE AAP ARTICLE SAID THERE HAVE BEEN 15 KANGAROOS?

We made some further inquiries yesterday with the groundkeeper at the golf course. There were a couple of kangaroos that they found on the golf course that they actually moved to the side of the road for collection by the Council. The initial report was there had been 12 on the golf course, two by the side of the road and one in the road further away. So, there has been a doubling up (in the count) on at least a couple of the kangaroos. We can actually confirm 12 on the golf course (and 1 in the road.)

HAVE ALL OF THESE BEEN BLOODLESS?

That’s another strange factor. They’ve been beheaded, but there has not been any large amount of blood found next to the body, which is fairly strange. To behead a kangaroo, if you were on foot which is the only way you would be able to get into the golf course after hours seemingly, you wouldn’t be able to actually walk right up to a kangaroo and cut its head off. And if you did, there would be a lot of blood involved. So, we’re curious about the manner in which they are initially killed and whether the removing of the head is actually something done later.

WOULDN’T KANGAROOS FIGHT?

Yes, absolutely. Definitely a large male (would fight). That’s the strange thing. You can’t just walk up to a kangaroo. They are not pets. There are a lot of kangaroos in that area. They are not tame. They are wild animals, and especially the older males would definitely defend themselves if you tried to attack them.

Some of the possibilities might be that they are being shot first and then defaced when the person or people approach them and cut off their heads.

HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO GET ANY OF THE DECAPITATED BODIES FOR FORENSIC EXAMINATION?

No, unfortunately the first information we received was only a couple of days ago. It was quite interesting conducting some inquiries yesterday that people in the local area had been aware of it happening over a period of time, but it had not been reported to us. So, it’s unfortunate that we haven’t had an opportunity at this stage. We’ve requested from all those people that if they do find another body to inform us immediately and we can do that (necropsy).

Some Kangaroos Cut Through Chest

IF I UNDERSTOOD SOMETHING YOU SAID THAT IN ONE OR TWO CASES IT WAS NOT JUST THE REMOVAL OF THE HEAD. BUT THERE WAS AT LEAST A CASE WHERE THERE WAS REMOVAL DOWN MORE INTO THE CHEST OF THE KANGAROO AS WELL?

Yes, there seems to have been cut off the person we spoke to yesterday, the witness we interviewed described it as being cut off with a sword, like a clean slice. Some of the smaller roos, instead of it being just the head. The smaller kangaroos, to give you an idea of size, I suppose, could be two to three feet tall instead of five (in bigger kangaroos). Their bodies had their heads removed, but a little bit lower just under their small arms at the front where they attach to the body.

WHERE THEY HAD BEEN CUT IN DECAPITATION, WHERE THE HEAD HAD BEEN CUT OFF, DID THE GROUNDKEEPER SAY THAT THOSE ALSO LOOKED AS IF THEY HAD BEEN CUT WITH A VERY CLEAN SHARP BLADE?

Yes, all of them. It’s just like the same clean slice wound.

HAD HE EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE?

No I don’t think they’ve ever seen anything like that on the golf course. We also made inquiries with the National Park above the golf course. We spoke to rangers there also. They’ve had a number of problems in their park with kangaroos over the past three years, I guess. This is a rural fringe area, so on one side is the suburbs and not far on the other side is a rural community. So, you get that cross over between people used to living in the bush with wild animals and those that perhaps aren’t.

The park rangers talk of problems in the past of people riding 4-wheel motor bikes and carrying machetes and chasing and trying to attack kangaroos. On the golf course, there has been no evidence of tire tracks or anything like that. As I say, there are big locked gates and the only way in at the night time which is the only time anyone could get in there without being seen – would be on foot. It’s very strange really.

YES, IT IS REALLY STRANGE. AND IF SOMEBODY HAD A MACHETE, THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE BLOOD, WOULDN’T THERE?

Logic would say yes. I guess the difficulty is not having an animal to examine.

DID YOU TALK WITH ANY OF THE EYEWITNESSES WHO FOUND THE KANGAROO BODIES?

Yes, the inspector who attended yesterday did have a conversation with one of the groundkeepers on the golf course, who was one of the people there are a couple of them who found a number of the bodies, yes.

Some Smaller Kangaroos Cut Through Chest

WHERE THEY HAD BEEN CUT IN DECAPITATION, WHERE THE HEAD HAD BEEN CUT OFF, DID THE GROUNDKEEPER SAY THAT THOSE ALSO LOOKED AS IF THEY HAD BEEN CUT WITH A VERY CLEAN SHARP BLADE?

Yes, all of them. It’s just like the same clean slice wound.

HAD HE EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE?

YES, IT IS REALLY STRANGE. AND IF SOMEBODY HAD A MACHETE, THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE BLOOD, WOULDN’T THERE?

Logic would say yes. I guess the difficulty is not having an animal to examine. Because we haven’t had a fresh scene to walk in and look at, it’s really difficult.

BUT IF IT’S A GOLF COURSE, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE DISCOVERED EVERY DAY.

Oh, definitely.

AND IT WOULD HAVE TO BE ON FRESH GRASS?

Yes. You would think so. I guess I am just being cautious. We can only rely on the comments from the witnesses. And they are saying they didn’t see any blood. But, maybe it soaked into the ground and they didn’t look particularly hard. I guess it’s possible it’s something they could have missed. At this stage, it’s important to keep as open a mind as possible. But from the information we have so far, it definitely is unusual and it definitely does not add up at this stage.

DID THE GROUNDKEEPER SAY HE EVER FOUND ANY BLOOD ON THE HAIRS OF THE KANGAROOS?

No. The information he said was that they just had that part of their bodies sliced off. There was not a large amount of blood anywhere, on them or (ground). He did say they did not display any other obvious wounds no bullet wounds, no scrapes, no cuts, anywhere else on their bodies other than the fact their head or top half of their body had been removed, they didn’t show any other signs of injury.

DID THE GROUNDKEEPER TELL YOU IF THIS HAD BEEN HAPPENING ON THE GOLF COURSE OVER THE PAST TEN WEEKS, WHY HE HAD NOT CONTACTED AUTHORITIES?

He actually said he had contacted the Dept. of Sustainability and Environment, which our state government department that looks after wildlife. He said he had spoken with them and we are curious about why no one has contacted us. But he said he had contacted what he thought was the correct authority at the time. I can’t speak for what action they have taken and/or what evidence was available to him (groundkeeper) when he made those complaints.

We made a very strong appeal to any members of the community who might have any information or can assist us with our inquiries. We hope there is not the opportunity for us to actually view a body firsthand because that would mean it happened again. But we have appealed that whoever finds another animal, contact us immediately so we look for forensic information.

If they (perpetrators) are doing it under the cloak of darkness or when there are not people at the golf course. Our understanding is that the golf course is open 7 days. It’s all a bit odd, really. Someone has to have seen or heard something, you would think.

DO YOU HAVE ANY KIND OF A SECURITY GUARD OR SOMEONE WITH YOUR OFFICE NOW STAKING OUT THE GOLF COURSE?

No. We’d love to have the resources to be able to do something like that. We have 17 people who work here across the entire state. So, we just don’t have the resources to sit on one property 24 hours a day. We have obviously alerted the owners of the property. I know there is a local community group that is keeping an eye on the course and surrounding areas. There is an organization that specifically targets cruelty to kangaroos that is trying their best to keep an eye on it. We’ve spoken with them about it. So, in a coordinated fashion, we are attempting to do the best with the resources that we have.

Could Mutilators Be Coming In From The Sky?

HAS ANYBODY EXPLORED THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOMETHING COULD BE COMING IN FROM THE SKY OR THE AIR DOWN INTO THE GOLF COURSE?

No, not yet. It’s not something that immediately jumps to mind as a possibility. I couldn’t comment as to whether it’s any fly path or anything like that. But anything that comes from the sky that would cause that kind of injury to the kangaroos, you would think would be embedded in the ground next to it.

I WAS THINKING OF HELICOPTERS OR PERHAPS SOMETHING ELSE STRANGE. HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, ENGLAND AND OTHER PLACES, THERE HAVE BEEN VERY UNUSUAL ANIMAL DEATHS IN WHICH EYEWITNESSES HAVE SEEN BEAMS OF LIGHT COMING OUT OF THE SKY. HAS ANYBODY REPORTED ANYTHING UNUSUAL OF AERIAL VEHICLES OVER THAT GOLF COURSE?

No, not to our knowledge.

THAT’S SOMETHING TO POSSIBLY KEEP IN MIND IF THESE KEEP HAPPENING.

Well, we have asked the community to contact us with any knowledge of anything that’s amazing or strange in the area that could possibly be linked to their (kangaroos’) deaths. We haven’t received any calls of that nature at this time.

HAVE YOU CHECKED WITH OTHER ANIMAL CRUELTY OFFICES IN OTHER PARTS OF AUSTRALIA TO SEE IF THEY HAVE EVER HAD SUCH SIMILAR REPORTS BEFORE?

The media concerning this has been pretty widespread across Australia. So, the other RSPCA in Australia have not reported any information or incidents happening in other states of Australia at this time. There are a lot of authorities and different bodies, as I’m sure there are in the States. I hope that anyone who has similar knowledge that they would contact us. But we will definitely continue with our investigations in an attempt to contact as many as we can to try to find out if anyone has had any history of this in their area.

Any Half Cats Reported?

HAVE YOU EVER HAD ANY REPORTS ABOUT HALF CATS OR SMALL ANIMALS FOUND CUT IN HALF IN WHICH THE UPPER HALF OF THE BODY IS REMOVED, OR THE LOWER HALF, AND IT’S ALWAYS JUST A HALF LEFT. NO BLOOD, NO TRACKS, AND CUT CLEANLY?

No, not that I’m aware of.

THAT’S SOMETHING THAT HAS HAPPENED A LOT IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, ENGLAND. THE KANGAROOS REMIND ME OF THAT PHENOMENON.

No, I think that’s something new to us. I can’t think of certainly not this kind of number (of deaths) over such a short period of time. Dealing with animal cruelty means dealing with all sorts of weird, violent acts. But this is strange in the number of animals in the same geographic place in such a short period of time. In Australia, I think at this stage it makes it a pretty unique situation.”

More Information:

To Report Information to the RSPCA

If anyone listening has any information about the bizarre kangaroo beheadings at the Yarrambat Golf Course northeast of Melbourne, the RSPCA has a phone number, website and e-mail.

The phone number in Burwood east, Victoria, Australia is: 03-9224-2222 (Dialing from U.S. 011-61-3-9224-2222)

The website is: http://www.rspcavic.org/

The e-mail address is: [email protected]

For more information about advanced beam technology that has been seen lifting animals into glowing discs, please see my two books, Glimpses of Other Realities, Vol. I and II in Earthfiles Shop.

Also, please see other Earthfiles reports about advanced beam technologies and animal mutilations in Earthfiles Archives: