The 2024 Kangaroo population estimates for Queensland provide the data for the 2025 commercial quotas for three species of Macropods. With the largest population of Kangaroos, Queensland kills the most Kangaroos for commercial gain when compared to other Australian states. Queensland Government Kangaroo population estimates remain far too high, reflected in actual take against quota for both commercial and damage mitigation permits (DMPs).

“Due to the costs associated with aerial surveys, not all monitor blocks are surveyed annually. The main feature of the current monitoring program is the establishment of pairs of closely correlated monitor blocks within each bioregion. Pairs are monitored on a rotating basis with each block surveyed every two years. Where there is only a single monitor block within a bioregion or where a monitor block samples a unique macropod community these blocks are sampled annually. All monitoring blocks are surveyed every five years”. Queensland Government 2024

Here is a summary of what the Queensland Government intends for Kangaroos in 2025. It is as grim as ever with quotas still a very long way from ever being met.

In Queensland, currently, three species of Macropod are exploited for commercial gain:

• Red Kangaroo (Osphranter rufus);
• Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus); and
• Eastern Wallaroo (Osphranter robustus).

The Queensland Government population estimate for these three species in 2024 was 19,948,800, up from 17,727,700 in 2023 and up from 16,267,200 in 2022.

2025 Quota: Total commercial quota for Queensland in 2025 is 2,941,550, a significant increase  from 2024 when the quota was 2,486,400 and again up from 2,210,400 in 2023.

The actual take against quota in 2023 was 597,750, that is 27 per cent of the 2023 quota of 2,210,400. For individual species, 25.3 per cent of the Red Kangaroo’s quota was met, for the Eastern Grey Kangaroo 29.5 per cent and for the Wallaroo 25.6 per cent.

The Queensland Government also states that the damage mitigation permits (DMPs) will also be below the maximum available quota in 2024, just as they were in 2023 and 2022. DMP kill to end July all three species and all zones was 36,510 against an available full year quota of 354,554.

The actual data (as distinct from the estimates) gives a clear indication of two things, population estimates, and hence quotas are far too high and the three species being exploited for commercial gain are systematically being exterminated across Queensland’s regions. As an indicator of decline, in 2015, the actual DMP kill was 419,354, dropping to 46,701 in 2023.

The fall in actual commercial take has also been significant as the data from the first half of the 1990s shows. Here is the actual take for those years:

• 1991 – 1,591,007
• 1992 – 1,615,157
• 1993 – 1,731,644
• 1994 – 1,752,655
• 1995 – 1,738,281
• 1996 – 1,395,740

What was even more curious is that the quotas, let’s say for 1992 and 1993 were around 2.3 million and less than the contemporary quotas. So even though they now get nowhere near the quotas today and the take continues to decline, the quotas are going up, instead of down. Why?

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A brief reminder of population estimates

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The historical data shows an approximate 20 million decline in popultion over a twenty year period, yet:

“Long-term trend data relating to population size since 1992, when Queensland began an annual program of helicopter surveys, demonstrates there has been no consistent increase or decline in the populations of Red Kangaroos, Eastern Grey Kangaroos or Eastern Wallaroos in Queensland. However, populations do fluctuate over time. Population estimates indicate that more than 1 million macropods of each species occur in the harvest areas. Thus, current harvest rates can be viewed as not having a long-term detrimental impact on populations”. Queensland Government 2024

The total Queensland population estimates of the three commercially exploited species as given by Queensland and Commonwealth Governments is as follows:

• 2024 – 19,948,800
• 2023 – 17,727,700
• 2021 – 12,959,400
• 2020 – 16,663, 850
• 2018 – 20,999,900
• 2013 – 32,803,900
• 2001 - 37,574,300

“The harvest zones are no longer drought declared, although the legacy of eight years drought is significant in terms of wildlife abundance. Queensland has received above average rainfall in 2022 and 2023”. Queensland Government 2024

The 2024 population estimates giving a quota for the three commercially exploited species in 2025 of 2,941,550, compared to 2,486,400 in 2024. This is 1,157,700 more Kangaroos than the quota in 2022.

The commercial quota for Queensland in 2022 was 1,783,850. The actual take against quota was 612,233.

In 2023 the actual take as reported by the Queensland Government was 597,750 (less than in 2022) and just one fifth of what they are proposing as the quota for 2025.

Looking at the three year total 2020 to 2022, the actual take against quota of the three species for the three year period was 1,727,541. That was still 758,859 fewer Kangaroos for the three years combined than the Queensland Government was proposing to kill for commercial gain in 2024.

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The rise and fall of actual commercial take from 1997

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Highest actual commercial take occurred in 2006, lowest in 2020 (some COVID impact). Slow breeding rates and high mortality combined with industrial scale killing have had a significant impact on Kangaroo populations in Queensland now evident in the data. Combined with significant climate change impacts, Australian species which are protected, cannot sustain the high level of killing.

• 1997 – 907,141
• 1998 – 1,164,640 (includes Whiptail Wallaby)
• 1999 – 1,148,324 (includes Whiptail Wallaby)
• 2000 – 1,376,812
• 2001 – 1,711,887
• 2002 – 1,852,911
• 2003 – 1,934,778
• 2004 – 1,599,136
• 2005 – 1,836,408
• 2006 – 2,000,085
• 2007 – 1,765,428
• 2008 – 1,249,761
• 2009 – 1,206,346
• 2010 – 830,618
• 2011 – 1,103,330
• 2012 – 975,304
• 2013 – 1,140,580
• 2014 – 1,044,498
• 2015 – 1,061,009
• 2016 – 896,144
• 2017 – 868,129
• 2018 – 795,747
• 2019 – 758,362
• 2020 – 514,144
• 2021 – 601,164
• 2022 – 612,233
• 2023 – 597,750

In Queensland in 2022 there were 1,065 licences current for shooters killing Kangaroos for commercial gain. There were 103 dealer licences current for dead Kangaroos, which included 10 dealer licences current for dead Kangaroos (meat processing) and two dealer licence current for dead Kangaroos (tanning of skins).

In Queensland there are no compliance checks relating to the actual shooting of Kangaroos or the shooters as they are doing the shooting. This means that it is impossible for the Queensland Government to know just how many Kangaroos were body shot (ie not head shot as required by the regulations) and left in the places they were shot. There are no checks in relation to the actual shooting as this compliance task is considered too dangerous for government employees to conduct.

Average income per shooter in 2022 was AUD17,250.

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