On 16 February 2025, following the devastating Gariwerd Park fires, the commercial Kangaroo shooters returned to Dunkeld.

The scale of the killing is enormous and yet the Victorian Government continues to claim that Kangaroo populations in the state are either stable or increasing. It is the confluence of the most terrible conduct, much of it recent, and that means that Kangaroos and Wallabies have no place of safety in the state and for the species that remain, they are heading for extinction. This is all the most cruel of cruelties.

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Climate and fires

Many thousands of Kangaroos have died in the fires in Gariwerd National Park and another 2,000 Kangaroos have been euthanised by the Victorian Government.

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Commercial shooting

Sunday night, we are in bed and asleep, location Dunkeld. Woken up by gun shots. Dive out of bed, our hosts are distressed, as is their pet dog. The commercial Kangaroo shooter is shooting in a paddock across the road and is between houses and the school. It is around 11.30 pm, the night is bright as it is a few days after the full moon. His lights intermittently pointing towards us as we stand in the property where we are staying. He shoots and butchers four Kangaroos.

The shooter then moves out across the road that connects Dunkeld and the Gariwerd National Park and enters the road where we are staying, turning up towards the Dunkeld Cemetery and entering the paddock adjacent to the Dunkeld Racecourse. On the other side of the fence and within meters is the newly established triage centre where volunteers are working hard to save the rescued and injured animals from the fire. We notify the vets of the danger. The shooter's spotlights scan the area including lights shining across Cemetery Road and directly at us. He starts shooting again. Our hosts call the police to warn of the danger. The police response is that he can shoot towards the Racecourse.

The impact of shooting on a mob of Kangaroos is to scatter and panic the animals. Joeys lose their mothers and animals end up on roads which is also dangerous, particularly given that the shooting is in Dunkeld itself. The shooting that occurred adjacent to the racecourse was also within meters of where the Pindone poison had been laid, deadly to Kangaroos and anything that eats them. So are we to believe that this confluence of behaviour is acceptable in a western style democracy, particularly as it is all being done with full state government support and knowledge?

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If we had not been there, we would not believe that this could happen. It is incredibly dangerous to use high powered rifles so close to houses and roads. That this is happening at all on the edge of what has been a catastrophic event for biodiversity demonstrates the lawless nature of what is occurring to both people and animals, not only in this place, but across Victoria.

Commercial shooting on public land

As of January 2025 commercial exploitation of Kangaroos has been allowed in Victoria, this includes state and national parks.

Authorities to Control Wildlife (ATCWs)

Mitigation permits are used extensively to kill wildlife, Kangaroos head the list in scale when it comes to the animals being slaughtered. There is no place of safety for Kangaroos in the state of Victoria. ATCW permits are used extensively to kill Kangaroos and Wallabies in state and national parks.

Words of wisdom

“We are indoctrinated at an early age to exempt science from criticism and treat it with a degree of reverence and are taught that, science is that which is proven and cannot be disputed. However, has the ‘integrity of scientific research’ become corrupt as a direct result of an increasing expectation by government that scientific research is funded or at least partly funded, by the same commercial organisations that have a vested financial interest in outcomes? The influence that scientists have over public perceptions can so be easily exploited for this purpose. Consequently, it is increasingly being used as a tool by commercial organisations for the purpose of endorsing their strategies and promoting their products”. Mary Lander, Kangaroos, Myths and Realities, AWPC INC, Australia 2005

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Exclusion fencing

This deadly fencing is designed to trap Kangaroos and they cannot cross these fences and, in some places, surrounding the Gariwerd National Park, were not able to escape the fire.

Denial of rescue from public lands

The Victorian Government has excluded  most experienced rescuer volunteers from the fires on public land, including national parks. This resulted in the rescue of just 6 animals (when many thousands were injured) from the bush fires in the Gariwerd National Park and the Little Desert National Park

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Denial of water and food

From the Premier of Victoria:

“Last month's Yarram Gap Grampians bushfire left the critically endangered colony of Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies short of food supply. Now 295kg worth of food has been dropped into the fire affected areas”.

From her government:

“Feeding of wildlife is generally not recommended as it can cause a range of issues for the existing and recovering environment, wildlife and community members”. Victorian Government

When a major bush fire occurs, numerous animals are killed by the fire, others survive. The ones that do survive will need access to food. Large area bushfires or floods can mean that the food source a particular species requires is destroyed and over a large area. This means feeding animals to get them through the next few months following a fire. History tells us that the government will attempt to feed an endangered species but resist feeding the rest. We will see what happens. This is much more than virtue signalling, we need all the initially unharmed animals that made it through the fire to survive the next few weeks and months. They should not be left to starve.

Poisons and introduced plants and the staggers

Poisons such as 1080 and Pindone are commonly used in regional Victoria. On top of these dangers, Phalaris, a common and introduced pasture crop, causes Phalaris toxicity or the staggers, a deadly symptom of the neurological damage cause by eating these now very common grasses.

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Just run them down

We were shocked (and we do not shock easily) to see the carnage on the roads in and around the Gariwerd National Park, including on dirt tracks. Most of the animals being killed were Kangaroos, Wallabies and Emus. One might have imagined that people would drive with due care, particularly given the suffering around them.

Land clearing and development

No thought is given to Kangaroos, Wallabies and other native animals, which are endlessly being pushed out of the places in which they live because of poorly considered developments.

So how many Grey Kangaroos do the Victorian Government plan to kill in 2025?

As Victoria burns and many thousands of Grey Kangaroos die as a result of the fires......

The 2024 population estimate for Western and Eastern Grey Kangaroos in Victoria from which the 2025 quota is derived was  2,078,000, comprised  211,000 Western Grey Kangaroos and 1,867,000 Eastern Grey Kangaroos. This compares with a population estimate of 2,363,850 from the previous survey in 2022.

The number of Kangaroos to be killed in Victoria in 2025 (excludes joeys) are:

• 117,600 for commercial gain comprised 104,150 Eastern Grey Kangaroos and 13,450 Western Grey Kangaroos. This compares to a commercial quota in 2024 of 155,650 Grey Kangaroos;
• 90,200 Grey Kangaroos to be shot using ATCW permits, comprising 84,550 Eastern Grey Kangaroos and 7,650 Western Grey Kangaroos. This compares to the ATCW quota in 2024 of 80,700; and
• TOTAL 207,800 comprised 21,100 Western Grey Kangaroos and 186,700 Eastern Grey Kangaroos.

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So what is the outcome of the conduct described here on this family of animals in Victoria?

Status of Macropodidae species in Victoria since European settlement:

Status of Kangaroo, Wallaby, Potoroo and Bettong species and their relatives in Victoria following the catastrophic bushfires in Victoria is 2020. Even the fires and climate change have not stopped the ever growing number of animals being killed.

• Toolache Wallaby Macropus greyi EXTINCT
• Eastern Hare Wallaby Lagorchestes leporides EXTINCT
• Bridled Nailtail Wallaby Onychogalea fraenata EXTINCT
• Rufous-bellied Pademelon Thylogale billardierii EXTINCT
• Rufous Rat-kangaroo or Rufous Bettong Aepyprymnus rufescens EXTINCT
• Eastern Bettong Bettongia gaimardi gaimardi EXTINCT The mainland subspecies was extinct by the 1920s due to predation by foxes, cats, habitat loss and degradation and persecution by land holders. Remains in Tasmania and re-introduced ACT.
• The Woylie or Brush-tailed Bettong Bettongia penicillata EXTINCT
• Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Petrogale penicillata - ENDANGERED – hunted to near extinction in Victoria, in 1908 alone 92,590 skins were marketed by a single company. LESS THAN 40 ANIMALS REMAIN in the wild in Victoria. Seriously impacted by the 2024-2025 Grampians fire
• Eastern Wallaroo Macropus robustus robustus ENDANGERED –extinct across 99 per cent of its former range in Eastern Victoria – remaining population impacted by wildfires
• Long-footed Potoroo Potorous longipes ENDANGERED –population in decline
• Long-nosed Potoroo Potorous tridactylus THREATENED –population in decline
• Western Grey Kangaroo Macropus fuliginosus – when historical distribution records are compared the species is missing from almost 50 per cent of its former range, shot commercially since 2014. Population in steep decline - at significant risk from commercial exploitation
• Eastern Grey Kangaroo Macropus giganteus – former range fractured and fragmented, shot commercially since 2014 - population in steep decline despite claims that mass shooting, habitat loss (significant) and climate change have no impact on population number
• Red-necked Wallaby Macropus rufogriseus – population seriously impacted by wildfires
• Red Kangaroo Macropus rufus – restricted in its declining range to far North West Victoria, the species used to occur in at least 50 per cent of Victoria. The species existence in Victoria is directly threatened by Victorian Government actions and has now been driven to the edge of EXTINCTION in the state. Removed from commercial industry list in the state
• Black Wallaby or Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor - population seriously impacted by wildfires

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