Kangaroo mob numbers increase with dry weather threatening their welfare

Station owners have seen numbers drastically increase with concerns for the protein source dying in dire conditions.

Livestock SA chief executive officer Travis Tobin said the current management arrangements were not delivering the coordinated response and level of accountability needed to effectively manage the state's kangaroo population.

"After a few good seasons, kangaroo numbers are already at levels not seen for some time and the population continues to build," he said.

"Producers are currently dealing with one of the fastest and deepest declines in livestock prices we have seen for some time and are starting to implement strategies to manage declining seasonal conditions as El Nino takes effect.

"Unfortunately, producers are all too familiar with the challenges excessive kangaroo populations have on animal welfare, land management and conservation outcomes.

"A return to a situation like that experienced in 2017 is the last thing they need and it will severely impact their livelihoods and mental health."

He said a recent ABARES report showed that 85 per cent of producers nationally were spending around $22,000 on pest and weed management per year.

"We know that for some South Australian producers this cost is a lot more," he said.

"Some good initiatives such as the two-year Kangaroo Partnership Project led by the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board, and the Agriculture Kangaroo Taskforce led by PIRSA have been trialled but appear to have stalled.

"Livestock SA appreciates that kangaroo management is a complex issue, but solutions need to be put into action now, as the potential ramifications of deteriorating seasonal conditions will not wait.

"We also need to address the failings of the current quota system which is consistently grossly underutilised.

"A 'target' approach may be a simpler alternative to delivering an ecologically sustainable population."

Department for Environment and Water kangaroo ecologist Amanda McLean said in 2022 the estimated number of kangaroos across SA's commercial harvest zone, which covers about 70pc of the state, was just under 3.5 million.

She said numbers from the 2023 surveys will be available later this year but kangaroo populations fluctuate with rainfall.

"High amounts of rainfall across the state over the last few years has resulted in kangaroo numbers increasing due to improved food availability," he said.

"Kangaroo populations can affect environments, including during dry periods when grazing pressure can become too high for the environment to support.

"This can lead to overgrazing.

"Dry periods can also cause animal welfare concerns for the kangaroos themselves when populations decline due to starvation."

Ms McLean said kangaroo numbers can be reduced through the kangaroo commercial harvest industry or by the permit to destroy wildlife system, which is regulated by DEW.

"All kangaroos taken under either system must be done so humanely and in accordance with either the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes or Non-commercial Purposes," she said.

Mount Victor station manager Richard Williams is a pastoral representative for the Kangaroo Partnership Program and said numbers were climbing to a point where they would suffer from an El Nino.

"It's got to be about doing the right thing by the kangaroo by reducing the numbers to a sustainable level," he said.

"During the drought, we were selling stocks as fast as we could to try and look after the country and at the time, I thought we had 20,000 kangaroos on the property.

"But recently through landscape, I've discovered that we now got 20,000 on the place and we had a lot more back in 2018.

"But they're forging ahead again with three reasonable seasons, we are back to 10 to the kilometre."

He said the property was 2000km and the kangaroos were creating competition for fodder and water resources.

"In the drought, we were pumping out one bore at 10,000 gallons a day and I could only account, with the sheep and the homestead for 4000 gallons a day," he said.

"We were pumping 6000 gallons a day just to keep the kangaroos going - and that pipeline represents about less than 10pc of the property.

"It was really annoying to be carrying water flat out trying to keep up with livestock and as you're unloading, the kangaroos are coming into the trough and drinking it nearly as fast as you're pumping it into the tank.

Mr Williams said from the Kangaroo Partnership Project perspective, societies view of kangaroos within the Australian landscape had to change.

"We're trying to come up with a solution for a problem that unsolvable," he said.

"PIRSA's taskforce haven't had a lot of successes.

"Where the kangaroo partnership has actually achieved considerably more than what the taskforce has done, basically nothing in two years, where we've financed several grants."

A PIRSA spokesperson said they were still actively engaging with members of the Agriculture Kangaroo Taskforce working on enhancing the capitalisation of SA's kangaroo population from an economic perspective within current quotas.

"PIRSA is aware that programs and initiatives that were part of the South Australian Arid Lands Kangaroo Project are now complete," they said.

"This project was undertaken by South Australian Arid Lands Landscape Board (SAAL) and was supported by the Taskforce."