Commercial kangaroo culls to be expanded across South Australia under proposed new management plan

Areas that permit kangaroo harvesting would be widened and more species added under a plan to reduce the huge numbers of roos that are causing havoc for farmers.

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Commercial kangaroo harvest areas would be expanded and hunters could target extra species under plans the State Government says will help manage vast marsupial populations.

Environment Department chief executive John Schutz said the proposed changes would better protect the environment and support farmers, commercial harvest industries, and kangaroo welfare.

It follows complaints about roos eating pastures during tough drought conditions.

Australia’s biggest kangaroo meat distributor, Macro Meats, had also called for the Government to make it easier for the industry to do business.

Commercial harvest zones already cover the bulk of the state, but Mr Schutz said his department wanted them extended to also cover the Yorke Peninsula, Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and the South East.

It would add more species to the commercial harvest, including tammar and red-necked wallabies, eastern greys and the Kangaroo Island subspecies of the western grey.

Hunters can already target mainland western greys, red kangaroos and euros.

Surveys would determine harvest quotas to ensure populations were managed sustainably, Mr Schutz said.

“We are looking at species which are not threatened and have increased in abundance and distribution during the past decade.”

The Government is also trialling a pilot program to increase the number of farmers supplying kangaroo meat businesses.

Up to 10 landholders would be supported to hunt kangaroos.

Kangaroos outside Blinman in the Flinders Ranges. Picture: P. Coleman Outback Imaging

As reported by The Advertiser, permits issued for non-commercial destruction of kangaroos accounted for about 154,000 animal deaths last year, double the number shot under valid permits the year before.

The commercial industry took about 109,000 kangaroos — 14 per cent of the state’s harvesting quota for the year and well short of the number landholders had shot and let lie on the ground.

The RSPCA is concerned about farmers managing kangaroo numbers using non-commercial ‘destruction permits’, citing a lack of monitoring to ensure animals were killed humanely — and that the culls were needed in the first place.

Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister Tim Whetstone said high kangaroo numbers were putting pressure on farmers and the environment.

Kangaroos are increasingly being blamed for damage to farm pastures.

“The proposed changes will support primary producers, local government and the commercial

kangaroo industry better manage overabundant kangaroos, and provide further opportunities to use kangaroos for meat or skin production,” Mr Whetstone said.

If the program was successful it would be expanded.

RSPCA Animal welfare advocate Rebekah Eyers said any management program to reduce numbers should be backed by evidence of kangaroo welfare issues, or significant damage caused by the marsupials.

“Kangaroo culling should not proceed on the basis of high kangaroo population numbers alone,” Dr Eyers said.

Culls should be monitored, and oversight was needed to ensure shooters were complying with relevant animal welfare regulations, she said.

Dr Eyers said the Government should also review its position that kangaroos were “a sustainable resource”.

“This position is inconsistent with the value that the community places on kangaroos as wildlife to be protected and managed,” she said.

Feedback is open until September 6. Visit yoursay.sa.gov.au.

Landholders interested in the trial should contact Livestock SA on 08 8297 2299 or email [e-mail].