Kangaroo harvesting would include Adelaide foothills under proposed changes to kangaroo management plan

Professional shooters would be able to target kangaroos in the Adelaide foothills and national parks for the first time, under proposed changes to the commercial harvest zone.

Kangaroos would be shot and killed in the Adelaide foothills and parts of some national parks for the first time, under proposed changes to control numbers as they near four million.

The Environment Department has released its updated draft kangaroo management plan 2025-29, which included changes to the state’s commercial harvesting boundary.

It followed landholder feedback to better manage numbers on their Hills properties with the help of professional harvesters, who sell carcasses for leather and meat production.

Farmers reported animals as tall as six foot standing on their tail and weighing 64kg after processing.

Livestock SA president Joe Keynes said numbers had “expanded alarmingly” across the state, putting extra pressure on farmers as kangaroos compete with livestock for paddock feed.

“No farmer wants to eradicate them, but farmers want to see them in numbers that are naturally occurring not the overabundant numbers we’re seeing now,” Mr Keynes said.

“It would be great to harvest them as a food source and find markets – the meat is lean and when cooked correctly it’s a great protein.”

Livestock SA president Joe Keynes on his Keyneton property. Picture: Brenton Edwards

There were 3.9 million kangaroos recorded in the state’s commercial harvest zone last year, up slightly from 3.8 million the previous year and 2.7 million in 2021.

Western grey kangaroo numbers alone in the Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula were estimated to be 74,020 in 2023.

Mount Compass farmer Robert Brokenshire said the region offered kangaroos the “perfect scenario” – “good feed, shelter and water troughs in every paddock”.

“We’ve gone from families of 12, which were happy to have on our farm, to now 30 in a paddock, eating a lot of stockfeed that’s costly to produce and wrecking fences,” he said.

“They’re the biggest I’ve seen, we’ve had roos being dressed out (processed) at 64kg – that would equal a 130-140kg animal and that animal would be six foot tall on its tail.”

The proposed boundary changes also included Cobbler Creek, Anstey Hill, Sturt George, Shepherds Hill recreation parks and Cleland, Belair and Glenthorne national parks.

Eastern Grey kangaroos. Picture: Jason Edwards

A kangaroo in Onkaparinga River National Park. Credit: Julie Thompson

Macro Meats owner Ray Borda. Picture: Supplied

The department said the harvest zone excluded the CBD and surrounding metropolitan areas and if harvesting occurred in a park, part or all of the park would be closed or restricted.

It said the changes brought a more consistent approach to kangaroo harvesting, as currently areas like the Onkaparinga Hills is split in half by the commercial boundary.

This year’s commercial harvesting quota for professional shooters at 577,000, slightly up from 576,300 the previous year and 455,800, in 2022.

The quotas specify which species can be harvested, where from and how many – however, harvest numbers rarely reach quota allocations.

Macro Meats owner Ray Borda said South Australian kangaroos only made up about 10 per cent of its meat, with the majority of animals coming from NSW and Queensland.

“We could take a lot more (kangaroos), but there’s only 60 harvesters in the state and most of them are part-time,” Mr Borda said. “I’ve been fighting for quite a while because the fees that an SA harvester has to pay is more than they are interstate.”

The plan is out for community consultation until September 15.