Aboriginal activists protest kangaroo cull

In this Aug. 29, 2000 file photo, a mother and her joey kangaroo are seen at the Lucas Heights Nuclear Science Testing Facility in Sydney, Australia. Australian authorities have started the controversial killing about 400 kangaroos on the outskirts of Australia's capital of Canberra, animal rights activists said Monday, May 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)

CANBERRA, Australia—Police arrested eight Aboriginal activists after they climbed a fence into a government site Wednesday to protest the culling of 400 kangaroos, which are viewed as sacred symbols by Australia's indigenous people.

The four men and four women were expected to be charged with trespassing later Wednesday, police said.

The eight Aboriginal protesters led by renowned activist Isabel Coe climbed over a gate to enter the abandoned military site in Canberra. They carried the black, red and yellow Aboriginal flag and smoldering eucalyptus leaves to light what Coe called a "sacred fire," which the activists sat around.

"We're here to claim our land today and to save the kangaroos," Coe said.

The activists did not resist when police arrested them about an hour after the protest began. Some 30 protesters who remained outside the fence jeered the police.

The protest was out of sight of the pens where kangaroos have been corralled before being killed with lethal injections.

Australians are divided on the merits of a mass killing of an iconic animal featured in their national coat of arms.

Defense Department authorities began the cull on Monday on the site where about 600 kangaroos live. Scientists say the kangaroos' growing population threatens their own survival, as well as that of endangered native species of reptiles and insects.

Officials have refused to comment on how many kangaroos had so far been killed in an operation that is expected to take two to three weeks. The department called on protesters to demonstrate peacefully.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is monitoring the cull and said inspectors at the site Monday found animal welfare standards were met.