The killing of the kangaroos started on Monday, at a military base in Canberra and continued Tuesday, even though protesters tried to stop the cull.

According to The Associated Press, about 400 kangaroos were killed because of the overpopulation. Two protesters managed to break through security lines, but they got to the wrong place and didn’t succeed to free the animals because they were sedated. The killing of the kangaroos was in a different location.

In their defense, the authorities said that the cull was necessary because the growing of the kangaroo population was a threat for some endangered local species of reptiles and insects.

Official also said that 600 kangaroos lived at the military base and if they hadn’t been killed with barbiturates or sedated, they would have starved to death. I bet they thought about this as a favor to the poor animals.

According to Reuters, animal rights activists said that the cull was “barbaric.”

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith wasn’t at all concerned that this would affect Australia’s reputation, saying that the cull had been done in the past and might continue into the future also.

Reuters informed that about 4 million wild kangaroos are culled each year in Australia to prevent overbreeding. The total population is 50 million.

In 2004 about 900 kangaroos were killed because they were causing erosion problems.