The following residents of the ACT draw to the attention of the Assembly:
Save Canberra’s kangaroos
No monitoring of what goes on in the killing fields
Since kangaroo culling began in Canberra in 2009, the ACT Government has funded the shooting and killing of 27,950 kangaroos. This does not include the thousands of pouch or 'at foot' joeys which are bludgeoned or decapitated.
Eastern Grey Kangaroos are under pressure across 29.9% of the ACT, due to agricultural activities including loss of habitat (pine plantations), culling on private rural leases and shooting in reserves. (Ray Mjadwesch, ACAT, 2014)
As at 2014, the Eastern Grey Kangaroo is extinct from 26.6% of the ACT, due to land use changes (city/urban areas, and heavily modified rural landscapes) (ibid).
The ACT's Senior Ecologist, found in his Phd that local kangaroos lived without damaging pasture or starving at densities of 5 per hectare, yet he supported the ACT program that deems kangaroos at more than one per hectare to be in danger of starving and a threat to their own habitat. (Sheila Newman, Conference Paper, 2016)
In 2021-2022, Citizen Scientists have undertaken the most complete direct count of kangaroos in all 37 of Canberra's accessible nature parks. They have found kangaroos are not "overabundant" and confirm, there is no evidence that culling in Canberra is necessary.
Your petitioners, therefore, request the Assembly to declare a moratorium on Kangaroo culling and conduct an independent review.