A kangaroo with its jaw blown off and left suffering for days to die is a wildlife rescuer’s worst nightmare.
Wildlife Victoria rescuer Sue Anderson said she and others faced this reality under the state’s increased Kangaroo Harvesting Program.
Last week Ms Anderson was called to Macedon to euthanise a mother kangaroo left severely disfigured by a bullet wound to the face. It’s believed she’d been targeted under the program but escaped with injuries.
“It was clear that the kangaroo had lost her joey as a result, too. It upsets us greatly to see them in this condition,” she told the Express.
Ms Anderson said she had attended at least five similar cases since January in Bulla, Lauriston, Romsey and Gisborne.
She is not alone in her distress.
“I am tired mentally and it’s not just me. We’re all very upset to see this is still happening,” she said.
“These poor kangaroos are lucky enough to be seen and called in when members of public see the horrific injuries. But it makes us wonder how many others are suffering out there from not being found.”
Last year, Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas increased the state’s harvesting kill quota by 37,780 kangaroos on the previous year to 95,680.
She announced the program would allow extra meat to be made available for human consumption – not just pet food. It would also seek 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”.
At the time, wildlife carers raised the alarm about the potential for increased ‘bad kills’ where kangaroos escaped with injury and could not be captured, and were left to suffer.
A Victorian Government spokesperson told the Express landholders in Victoria had two options for managing kangaroos: applying for a permit to control on-farm or accessing a professional shooter through the Kangaroo Harvesting Program.
“Strict requirements for both programs ensure animal welfare and maintain sustainable kangaroo populations,” they said.
“All professional harvesters need to be authorised by the Game Management Authority and must follow the national humane kangaroo and wallaby shooting codes.”
The code specifies, “The shooter must be certain that each kangaroo or wallaby is dead before another is targeted”.
Shooters are also advised to avoid shooting female kangaroos with joeys. If a mother kangaroo is shot then the joey must too be killed to avoid predation, dehydration or starvation.
However, Trentham Five Freedoms Wildlife Shelter’s Helen Round said she had experienced an influx of joeys coming into her care to be reared, placing pressure on the shelter. Many, she believed, were a result of shooters that had been working in those areas.
“We are the ones who have to clean up after the shooters and unfortunately it is a common occurrence,” she said.
“We often attend rescues where the property owners are distressed about the number of roos shot in their area and that they hear frequent shooting.”
Ms Anderson told the Express there had also been two recent cases of stray bullets reported where bullets had been found lodged in the walls of homes near shooting areas in Bacchus Marsh and New Gisborne.
“How many of these have not been reported or even noticed?” she said.
“Night shooting should be banned. Unless surveillance of the land they are shooting on has been checked in the daylight, shooters cannot be sure of shooting safely as they are unable to see what is in the background beyond their lights.”
The Victorian Government said the kangaroo harvest quota has slightly increased in 2022, reflecting landholder preferences to access professionals through the harvesting program and a reduced use of the permit system.
Across both control options the total recommended take for 2022 is lower than in 2021.
Macedon Ranges is located within the Central Kangaroo Harvesting Program zone. The 2022 maximum quota for this zone is 46,150. In 2021, the quota for Central zone was 25,500 with 19,935 tags actually used.
Shooters must abide by the national humane kangaroo and wallaby shooting codes. Any allegations about potential cruelty to kangaroos should be reported to Crimestoppers on tel:1800 333 000 or to DELWP on 13 61 86.
