Ecologist Says Australia Must Cull Kangaroo Population or Risk Catastrophe

A kangaroo stands next to a rare waterhole as sheep gather as they look for food on a station near White Cliffs in New South Wales, Australia, on July 19, 2002. William West/AFP via Getty Images

Ecologists are warning that kangaroo populations in Australia need to be kept in check, with shooting as the best method, or a “catastrophic” number will starve to death.

Kangaroo populations, also known as mobs, boom following wet seasons, which provide an abundance of vegetation and water sources. Australia recently experienced three consecutive La Nina weather events, which brought massive rainfall to large parts of the country.

Further, the introduction of manmade water sources for livestock, dingo controls, and less Indigenous hunting of the animal has allowed populations to grow without restraints. Dingos are one of the few natural predators of the kangaroo in Australia.

But a rapidly booming population will lead to widespread deaths once food and water levels return to normal (or fall below, in the case of drought) and the lands are unable to sustain such large mob numbers.

Ecologist Katherine Moseby said that the last time Australia went through a drought season, 80 to 90 percent of kangaroos in some areas died.

“They [were] starving to death—going into public toilets and eating toilet paper, or lying on the road starving while their joeys are trying to feed,” she told AFP.

Moseby said the best way to avoid this was to shoot them before the numbers get out of control.

“It keeps the numbers down so that when we do get drought, we don’t get these welfare issues,” she said.

“If we saw them as a resource and managed them like that, we wouldn’t get the catastrophic deaths that we see.”

This is not the first time warnings of potential mass starvations have been made, with New South Wales farmers sounding an alarm at the start of the 2017-19 drought.

“They’re just devouring anything we’ve got grass-wise, they’re starting to cause erosion along fences. Any of the grass country is just being pulled up by the roots,” farmer Garry Hannigan told ABC in 2017.

“In the next drought, kangaroos are going to die by their millions.”

History shows that Australia also needs to brace for grassfires on a huge scale after prolonged La Nina seasons has left the land packed with fuel for fire.

This has occurred three times since 1950, all ending in deadly fires, particularly in the state of New South Wales (NSW).

Former NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner, Greg Mullins, is certain history will repeat itself.

“I’m not a gambler, but I reckon three out of three means it’ll probably be four out of four,” he told AAP.

“It just seems to snap back to hot and dry after a triple La Nina. And when that happens, the grass or young scrub all dies. And then it just explodes.”

Backburning will be required to decrease the risk of an explosion of bushfires, which also means less food for the kangaroos.

Population Controls

The state of Victoria uses other methods, such as fertility and fencing controls, to keep population numbers in check. But it admits that shooting is the best control method.

“Fertility control requires kangaroos to be captured, which poses risks to animal welfare. It is only effective at reducing numbers where kangaroo populations are restricted to a certain area,” the state’s Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning said (pdf).

“Exclusion fencing is costly to install and maintain. It also poses risks to animal welfare as excluding populations that are over-abundant may lead to mass starvation.

“Shooting is considered to be the most effective and humane method to control kangaroos because the animals die quickly, and it reduces the numbers rapidly.”

There is also annual kangaroo hunting quotas in each state, set each year at about 10 to 20 percent of the animal population. These quotas, however, are rarely met.

A kangaroo is seen in the rain in Sydney, Australia on March 22, 2021. Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Activism Could Backfire on Animal

Animal activists often advocate against the culling of kangaroos. However, the industry warns that while they have good intentions, unchecked kangaroo populations are detrimental to the animals themselves as well as the environment.

Garry Trindall, an Indigenous Australian who has hunted kangaroo for meat and hide processing in NSW for more than 50 years, said animal welfare activists’ concern for the killing of joeys or their mothers is misguided.

“[Professional shooters] try to cull what needs to be culled, that’s the older and bigger kangaroos,” he told the ABC.

“Nine times out of 10, if we shoot those, they have joeys that are big enough to survive by themselves.”

In fact, the large population of kangaroos was “unnatural,” Trindall said, noting that traditionally they were only able to live along rivers.

“But when the white man settled, the farming and the water that they used for it allowed the kangaroos to multiply by the millions,” he said.

“If you stop the professional shooters and the Aboriginal people from harvesting, you'll get people shooting kangaroos willy-nilly.”

US Giants Misinformed on Australian Issue

In March, U.S. footwear giants Nike and Puma announced they will stop using kangaroo leather in their soccer shoes.

This follows the proposal in January of lawmakers in the American state of Oregon of a bill that would ban the sale of kangaroo parts and products.

The proposal united conservationists and the kangaroo product industry in Australia, with both groups warning local authorities they were already struggling with an overabundance of the iconic animal.

Kangaroo Industries Association of Australia (KIAA) CEO Dennis King said they believed the move was driven by “emotive misinformation.”

“We are calling out the misinformation being circulated around kangaroo management and highlighting the need for greater awareness around the benefits of managing an overabundant species, including increased biodiversity and sustainability, a reduction in adverse animal welfare outcomes, and waste reduction,” he said.

Daniel Y. Teng contributed to this report.