2024: Commercial exploitation of Kangaroos in Victoria, half year results
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“Shooters report actuals via a mobile phone application hosted by the Department of Government Services at the completion of each shooting. Actual numbers are self-reported and there may be discrepancies between the reported figures and the actual figures”.
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This analysis reports the actual number of Grey Kangaroos killed for commercial gain in the first six months of 2024 in Victoria.
There were 113 shooters commercially exploiting Kangaroos in Victoria in the first half of 2024. In 2024 there are 7 shooting zones, mergers of zones planned from 2025 reduce that to 5 shooting zones.
The full year commercial quota in 2024 in Victoria is 155,650. The Nature Knowledge Channel’s full year forecast for Victoria in 2024 is 69,900 (the 2023 actual was 72,232). So after 6 months of commercial shooting, 51 per cent of our forecast was met and just 23 per cent of the state’s quota for 2024 was met.
The actuals for the 2024 are as follows:
- Actual first 6 months 2024 – 35,945
- Quota first 6 months 2024 – 90,930
The Central Shooting Zone and the Lower Wimmera Shooting Zone, at 24,538 Kangaroos, accounted for 68 per cent of all Kangaroos killed for commercial gain in Victoria in the first 6 months of 2024. Concerningly, these two zones are being merged with zones with low levels of actual take as from January 2025 and vanish, and that makes ongoing comparisons far more difficult.
- Total number of females killed for commercial gain in the first 6 months of 2024 was 11,677 or 32.5 per cent of total commercial take.
- Total number of at foot joeys killed for commercial gain in the first 6 months of 2024 was 10,026. These animals are killed by blunt force trauma (hit with the back of an axe and so on) and bodies are discarded. Adding joeys to the 2024 actual kill during the first 6 months of 2024 raises the total number of Kangaroos killed to 45,971 which means that 22 per cent of all the Kangaroos killed in Victoria as a result of commercial activity were joeys, the next generation.
- The total number of Western Grey Kangaroo killed for commercial gain in the first 6 months of 2024 was 759, just 2 per cent of all the adult Kangaroos killed. Western Victoria is an ‘overlap zone’ for Western and Eastern Grey Kangaroos. Our view is that Western Grey Kangaroos are being exterminated in Victoria, just as Eastern Grey Kangaroos are being exterminated in South Australia.
The question all journalists should be asking is why the Commonwealth Government did not sign the Victorian Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2024-2028 and why the commercial exploitation of Kangaroos was allowed to continue in Victoria without a plan? The answer to why the plan was not signed is because the plan contains serious miscalculations, seeks to change the shooting zones and seeks to enable the commercial exploitation of protected Australian wildlife on public lands in Victoria, to name just three reasons.
To put a value to this activity in the first half of 2024, the gross economic value, as a rough estimate, was AUD 1,028,000 with an average gross economic value per Kangaroo shooter of AUD 9,097.
From information provided to Victorian MP Georgie Purcell (Question on Notice):
As of 12 September 2024, the Conservation Regulator has approved five export permits for Wildlife Processor Licence holders since the establishment of the Kangaroo Harvesting Program. These approvals may be for whole carcasses or processed products of those animals. Year-by-year data are:
- 420 macropods in 2019;
- Nil in 2020;
- 1,800 macropods in 2021;
- Nil in 2022;
- 800 macropods in 2023; and
- Nil in 2024 (as of 12 September 2024).
Note: Commercial exploitation commenced in Victoria in 2014 as a trial.
Note: For 2024, no exports occurred to 12 September 2024 because the Commonwealth Government had not approved Victoria’s Kangaroo Management Plan.
Out the window
We may well ask what happened to these Victorian Government guidelines?
Female Kangaroos with obvious young
Conditions of Authorisation under section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975, to hunt, take, destroy, possess, dispose of and sell Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Western Grey Kangaroos in accordance with the approved Victorian Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2021-2023.
The conditions required to comply with an authorisation issued under section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975, to hunt, take, destroy, possess, dispose of and sell Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Western Grey Kangaroos in accordance with the approved Victorian Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2021-2023.
Number 7 of 22 conditions states: Kangaroos with obvious dependent young must not be shot.
Not viable (until 2014 that is)
"Commercial use of culled Kangaroos was undertaken in Victoria in the 1980s to test the viability of a Kangaroo industry in this state. It did not prove to be viable. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) concludes that the industry failed at that time because of the low numbers of Kangaroos available, and the distances to be travelled between properties and points of processing, which made it uneconomic for the industry to continue. Commercial utilisation of Kangaroos has not been permitted in Victoria since that time". Parliament of Victoria - Environment and Natural Resources Committee, Inquiry into the Utilisation of Victorian Native Flora and Fauna June 2000 - No 30 Session 1999/2000 VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER 2000
No increase
Speaking about the KPFT, Peter Walsh, the former Victorian Agriculture Minister stated:
“It will not mean any increase in the wildlife control permits at all, it is just utilising the waste that is there from the current controls".
Whoops, a huge increase
“On balance, it appears that the behaviour of some KPFT shooters, who have and interest in maximising numbers controlled, is having some influence on the number of Kangaroos landholders are requesting to control. As a result, numbers approved for control have increased under the trial. This may not only compromise the aim of reducing waste, but could also threaten the sustainability of Kangaroo populations in future years if an expectation of a steady supply of carcasses was created. Given that Kangaroo populations vary, a program to process carcasses within the ATCW system cannot guarantee the steady supply that is preferable to shooters and processors”. Kangaroo Pet Food Trial Evaluation, DEWLP, 2017
The initially secret DELWP report Kangaroo Pet Food Trial Evaluation stated that:
“However there has been a disproportionate increase in the number of Kangaroos approved for control in trial areas, compared to non-trial areas since the commencement of the trial. Over the period of the trial the average number of Kangaroos approved for control in trial areas was nearly 250 per cent higher than the long-term average. The deviation from the long-term average is much larger in trial areas than in non-trial areas. This is primarily due to KPFT authorisations being issued, on average for larger numbers of Kangaroos than type 1 ATCWs”.
Hunting regulations and codes
Where and when you may use firearms (Firearm safety code 2011)
Before you do any shooting, whether with a firearm or air gun, you need to know when and where it can be safely and lawfully used.
You should take steps to ensure that your shooting does not endanger property or frighten, annoy or put neighbours at risk. Telling your neighbours about what you are doing is always a good first step.
“The Code is a vital tool that has been developed in the interests of community safety and recreational shooting. I strongly encourage Victorian shooters to recognise the Code’s importance and actively practice the ten basic rules. In this regard, shooters will be able to continue enjoying their sport safely while avoiding endangering the welfare of others”. The Honourable Peter Ryan MLA’ Deputy Premier of Victoria