Macedon Ranges Wildlife Network is urging Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas to take the state’s increased kangaroo harvesting kill quota and extra roo meat off the table for Victorians.
On Thursday, Ms Thomas announced the Victoria’s Kangaroo Harvesting Program quota in 2021 would increase by 37,780 kangaroos on last year to 95,680.
Through this program the state government will allow extra meat to be made available for human consumption – not just for pet food as is currently the case – and will look for opportunities to export the skins.
Ms Thomas attributed the dramatic change to a 2020 kangaroo survey that she said estimated “the current kangaroo population at almost two million across Victoria – up almost 40 per cent compared to 2018”.
“It’s important that kangaroo numbers are sustainably managed in Victoria to reduce impacts on landholders and the community,” Ms Thomas said.
But Macedon Ranges Wildlife Network’s Sue Anderson has challenged the figures and has called on the minister to release detailed statistics.
“This increase in kangaroo population is biologically impossible. Even when conditions are ideal, the most kangaroo populations can increase by is 10 per cent,” Ms Anderson said.
“At most, a kangaroo can have a joey every 12 months. So if we have equal amounts of male and female kangaroos, and every single female had a joey and every single joey survived and none of the adults died, the most the population could increase by in a year is 50 per cent. These assumptions are ridiculous. The increased kill quota cannot possibly be justified.
“Wildlife carers have raised alarm about the potential for increased ‘bad kills’ where kangaroos escape with injury and cannot be captured, and are left to suffer.”
Wildlife network co-founder and Australian Society for Kangaroos vice-president Fiona Corke told the Midland Express it was a “slap in the face to wildlife carers and rescuers in our community”.
Ms Thomas stated only trained professional shooters authorised through the program would be able to provide animals to abattoirs to be processed for the table.
She said harvesters must abide by the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes. Their vehicles and cool rooms must also be accredited through PrimeSafe.
Macedon Ranges Wildlife Network is calling on members of the community to write to the state government to reverse its decision.
