Hunters in limbo as kangaroo culls halted
Professional shooter Daniel Purvis rues the Victorian Government’s decision to halt kangaroo culls statewide.
KANGAROO shooters’ hopes of resuming harvesting in the wake of the bushfires have been all but quashed by the Victorian Government.
All Victorian harvesting for 2020 was brought to a halt on January 8, due to the bushfires.
The Government’s decision stunned Victorian kangaroo shooters and processors, given the fires affect just 5 per cent of the state and just two of the seven harvesting zones.
“We have 51 registered shooters with no work,” Bendigo kangaroo harvester Glenn Cole said.
Meanwhile, farmers are still free to obtain authority to control wildlife permits from the Andrews Government to shoot thousands of kangaroos, which must be left to rot or buried.
And across the border in NSW, where four times the area of land has been burnt out, the Coalition Berejiklian Government has allowed kangaroo harvesting to continue.
Victorian Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio told media at Healesville Sanctuary last week, where the Government announced $17.5 million for injured wildlife, that no decision on resuming the kangaroo harvest was likely until the fire season was over.
“Once we are clear of the bushfire season, there will be a proper assessment, led by experts, scientific evidence and advice that will determine (bushfire) impacts on existing kangaroo populations and will then inform the number of kangaroos that will be part of the program of harvesting,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
The Minister made it clear the priority of Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning staff was helping respond to the fires.
Asked if there would be any compensation for harvesters and processors, Ms D’Ambrosio said it was a “commercial matter” and “I’m not going to comment on that”.
Shooters and processors are concerned it may be months before they are allowed to resume harvesting, given the bushfire season may not end until late March and DELWP may take weeks to then complete its kangaroo population assessment.
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“By the time they (DELWP) get going on this, it could be August,” Mr Cole said.
For young Castlemaine shooter Daniel Purvis the halt on harvesting is devastating, given he has just bought a vehicle and gear to start his first business harvesting roos this year.
“Everything has come crashing down,” Mr Purvis said. “I’ve put a fair bit of money into setting up.”
Mr Purvis said he had been able to find “a little bit of work, but can’t make any commitments” as he doesn’t know when harvesting may re-open.
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