Audit to set quota for kangaroo cull

LOCAL Government planning assessors have given the green light for a property owner at Port MacDonnell to house refrigerated containers to store kangaroo carcasses. The proposal was rubber-stamped by the Grant District Council's Development Assessment Panel earlier this month with a number of conditions. This follows the State Government sweeping in new regulations allowing the eastern grey kangaroo to be commercially harvested in the Limestone Coast. The applicant sought approval to store the refrigerated containers at 50 Jones Road, Port MacDonnell, which is located in a primary production zone. According to the proposal, each container can house about 180 carcasses. No processing of meat will occur on the site and carcasses will be delivered to the site on a utility. "Gutting and skinning of carcasses will occur on site where the kangaroos are shot,'" according to the applicant. "Within two to three days of filling the chillers, a small truck will pick up the carcasses and deliver them to an abattoir for processing." Conditions imposed by the panel include the site must be clean and tidy at all times and noise levels are not to exceed those specified by the Environment Protection Authority. Other conditions relate to ensuring there was no odour, dust, pollution, noise or electrical interference at the site. The two refrigerated containers also must be removed from the property when either the land use or the contract with the meat processor ceases. Under the expanded harvesting zones, more than 7000 eastern grey kangaroos could be potentially harvested across the Limestone Coast this year following the long-standing ban being lifted. The state's harvesting zone was expanded amid high numbers of the native animal across the region. It is hoped the harvest will spearhead the development of a kangaroo meat processing sector and reduce the number of animal vehicle collisions. The Mount Gambier district has been identified as a hotspot for animal collisions.

THE Department for Environment and Water (DEW) will take to Limestone Coast roads and skies this month to determine harvest quotas for kangaroos in the region.

For the first time the aerial and drive-around surveys, which start across the state on Monday, will be supported by predictive population models.

It follows the State Government lifting a longstanding ban in December, giving the green light to the culling of the eastern grey kangaroo in the Limestone Coast.

The expansion of the harvest zones in the South Australian Commercial Kangaroo Management Plan 2020-2024 was in response to reports of rising numbers of kangaroos in the region.

DEW spokesperson Anthony Freebairn said the aerial survey would cover the newly-opened Upper and Lower South East sub-regions.

“The kangaroo surveys will cover a reduced area this year in accordance with the recently adopted South Australian Commercial Kangaroo Management Plan 2020-2024,” Mr Freebairn said.

While the aerial survey was introduced in 1978, this will be the first time DEW has used a combination of aerial survey data and predictive population models to inform kangaroo harvest quotas.

“The population models have been developed in collaboration with the University of Adelaide and are based on long-term survey data and climatic variables, such as rainfall,” Mr Freebairn said.

“Using models to predict population numbers for some harvest sub-regions where we have long-term data will enable the survey team to concentrate their efforts on the newly opened harvest areas.

“Harvest sub-regions with traditionally high harvest will continue to be surveyed annually, but other sub-regions will be surveyed on a less frequent rotational basis.”