The actual kill data by species tells a story of an increase in the intensity of killing and the subsequent decline of populations and the number of animals being killed for commercial gain. Rather than list every year, we have chosen years where changes are marked to give a broad understanding of what is happening to the Red Kangaroo, about which we are extremely concerned.

Here is a snapshot of what it looks like for the iconic Australian species, the Red Kangaroo, so well adapted to arid and semi-arid lands.

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Red Kangaroo actual commercial kill (from South Australian Government data)

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• 1975 – 35,710
• 1978 – 51,997
• 1980 – 111,247
• 1981 – 145,000
• 1982 – 172,100
• 1984 – 83,469

The 1990s were a period of very large scale killing of Red Kangaroos in South Australia for commercial gain and reflected the growth of commercial exploitation for financial gain. Essentially Kangaroos are something for nothing, unless that is, you happen to be a government underwriting the activity in its many dimensions.

• 1990 – 172,793
• 1991 – 213,628
• 1994 – 278,346
• 1995 – 276,492
• 2001 – 193,400
• 2008 – 103,229
• 2010 – 65,192
• 2016 -  69,346
• 2019 – 68,711
• 2020 – 49,784 (Covid had little impact as commercial Kangaroo shooters continued their work, classified as an essential service).
• 2022 – 49,371
• 2023 – 58,644

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As a share of the commercial take this is what happened in 2023, fairly typical of the recent period.

• 58,664 – Red Kangaroo
• 28,403 – Western Grey Kangaroo and Kangaroo Island Sooty Kangaroo
• 6,049 – Euro
• 53 – Tammar Wallaby
• 7,445 – Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Of the total of 100,594 animals killed in South Australia, Red Kangaroos were 58 per cent of the commercial kill. The quota for 2023 for all species in South Australia was 576,300 animals, just 17.4 per cent of the quota was met.

The South Australia Government has attempted to, at great expense, continue to enable the commercial exploitation of Kangaroos in South Australia by allowing shooting zone extensions, moves to commercially exploit Kangaroos on public land, shooting large numbers of female Kangaroos and adding new species to the list of those animals that can be commercially exploited.

Despite all these significant additions to what is possible, the actual commercial take continues to decline. If you take out the recently added species, the actual take against quota falls to just 15 per cent. Subtracting the impact of shooting zone extensions reduces this figure even further. A clear indication that population estimates for these species are vastly inflated. To put it in simple terms, they are just plain wrong.

Because none of these species can sustain the killing rate, albeit at significantly reduced levels, because of population declines over the last 50 years, the Euro, Eastern Grey Kangaroo, the Kangaroo Island Sooty Kangaroo and Tammar Wallaby should be removed, with immediate effect, from the commercial list in South Australia and a detailed investigation needs to occur in relation to the future prospects of both the Red Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo in South Australia.

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