Kangaroo crisis: Metro trains hitting roos on Mernda, Hurstbridge lines
Melbourne’s rail network is facing an “out-of-control” problem that has seen a record number of deaths this year, leaving frustrated commuters late for work, and Metro staff scratching their heads.
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An “out-of-control” kangaroo population across Melbourne’s north is causing havoc on the city’s train network.
Metro recorded 20 trains had hit roos in the first half of 2019, compared to 18 for the whole of last year.
Melbourne’s driest recorded start to the year is forcing scores of the native animals further into the city, posing many problems for homeowners, motorists and wildlife rescuers.
A total of 13 kangaroos had been struck on the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines this year, as well as seven other incidents along other lines.
Many of these incidents resulted in line delays.
Metro spokesman James Ireland said wildlife did interfere with trains across the suburban rail network.
“Animal strikes do occasionally impact our ability to run trains,” he said.
“Metro works to quickly get services back to normal following an animal strike to get passengers where they need to go.”
Metro installs about 2km of new fencing along the rail corridor every year, with a focus on high-incident areas for trespassing.
At a recent kangaroo forum, which addressed Whittlesea’s roo crisis, Mernda’s William Sharp said the area needed more designated wildlife crossings.
He also said the corridors needed to be appropriately fenced off.
“This area continues to expand and we are encroaching onto their (the kangaroos’) land so we need to find a way to integrate them into our way of life,” he said.
“We need a crossing from one side of the railway line to the other, and this needs to be fenced off, otherwise the roos are just forced into one area and then you have mobs and mobs of them in the one space.
“We need to encourage them to space out and move around so we aren’t boxing them in.”
Mr Sharp said he saw dozens of kangaroos outside his Villeroy St home every day.
“And at the end of the street are 200 of them, and that’s just one mob — it’s an endless problem and we need a plan,” he said.
Animal rescuers are responding to a record number of call outs this year for roos being hit by vehicles across Melbourne’s north.
More than 50 kangaroos a week are being killed or injured by cars on Whittlesea roads, wildlife rescuer Krysti Severi revealed.
And Nillumbik Council is on track for a record number of kangaroos killed under its euthanising service, with 314 in just four months.
Doreen was also named as one of the top five locations across Australia for kangaroo collision claims in Huddle Insurance’s yearly Roo Report.
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Andrew Cameron, a volunteer with The Wildlife Rescuers, told the Leader the Bundoora-based group was “flat out” every day responding to calls for roos hit by cars in Melbourne’s outer north.
“We will get four or five calls a night and that is before midnight, and then the next morning we will be inundated with more calls for kangaroos hit during the peak-hour rush — I haven’t seen anything like it before,” he said.
“If you are a local in these areas just slow down a little on the roads — so many speed and that’s what is causing a lot of kangaroos to be hit.”
Anyone who sees an animal in distress should phone Wildlife Rescuers on 0417 506 941.
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