Kangaroo permit system under scrutiny

Livestock SA chief executive officer Andrew Curtis said kangaroo numbers had been rising for much of the past decade in most areas of the state, with the drought exacerbating the situation.

“Rain hasn’t been widespread but anywhere it has rained, where there is any new feed available, kangaroos are lining up,” he said.

“(Graziers) have reduced stocking rate but it’s counted for naught as kangaroos came in and eaten every last skerrick of feed.”

Mr Curtis said there were issues with the location of commercial harvest zones, with much of that focused in pastoral zones, which ignored growing populations on inside country, while restrictions on destruction permit numbers reduced farmers’ ability to have much impact on populations.

“We’re not harvesting anything near the commercial quota or destruction quota,” he said. “Quotas are often issued in country a long distance away and the price received for meat and skin is low.”

He said another option was to find more markets for the “high quality, lean protein source” and “supple” leather.

Livestock SA has been working with the Department of Environment and Water to come up with solutions to help manage the high numbers.

A departmental spokesperson said they had been developing pilot studies to assist landholders and the commercial industry to work together, such as issuing larger permits.

“It is expected these studies will be completed in early 2019,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said landholders could work with commercial kangaroo field processors in the commercial harvest zone while landholders across the state could apply for a Permit to Destroy Wildlife in situations of damage to the environment, crops or property.

DEW and Livestock SA have also partnered with the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia FarmerASSIST to manage kangaroo numbers with skilled marksmen, the spokesperson said.

SSAA FarmerAssist program manager Matt Godson said the scheme, which links insured, highly-skilled marksmen with farmers with a pest problem via a website, had been growing for the past few years and had enough members to provide services across the country.

He said the benefits to the partnership were two-fold, with there being positive animal welfare outcomes.

“It is reducing grazing pressure and reducing the suffering of drought-affected kangaroos,” he said.

He said there were still some issues to be negotiated to reduce red tape, including how permits were issued.

The DEW spokesperson said numbers had been rising since 2010, but were starting to fall as the drought continued, with an estimated 4.4 million kangaroos in the commercial harvest area of SA, down from 5m in 2017.