Draft South Australian Commercial Kangaroo Management Plan 2020-2024

Now closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 6 June 2019 to 6 September 2019. Below is a record of this engagement.

What is being decided?

Community input is now being sought on the draft South Australian Commercial Kangaroo Management Plan 2020-2024.

The plan includes proposed changes to the commercial harvest of kangaroos in South Australia, particularly in relation to where commercial harvest can occur, the species that are included, and how the Department for Environment and Water gathers and uses data to manage these kangaroo populations.

The current South Australian Commercial Kangaroo Management Plan 2018-2022 allows for the commercial harvesting of the three common kangaroo species in South Australia (red kangaroos, western grey kangaroos and euros) and the commercial export of kangaroo products. It outlines how the industry is regulated by the Department for Environment and Water, Biosecurity SA and the Australian Government.

The main goal of the kangaroo management program is to regulate the sustainable, commercial harvest of kangaroos in SA to safeguard the conservation of kangaroo species to be harvested in the natural environment. The program is based on scientific evidence and is underpinned by an adherence to the animal welfare requirements outlined in legislation and the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes.

However, since the adoption of the current plan in 2018, kangaroo numbers have increased across much of the state and primary producers and regional communities have felt constrained in their ability to manage the overabundance within the current system.

In response a new draft plan has been developed.

Get involved

Read the draft South Australian Commercial Kangaroo Management Plan 2020-2024 and provide your feedback.

• Join the online discussion
• complete the survey
• email your feedback to kmp@sa.gov.au

Please note: the harvesting of kangaroos is a necessary activity supported by legislation. Comments received about the merits of implementing kangaroo management in South Australia or that demonstrate a philosophical objection to kangaroo harvesting will be received and noted. See consultation guidelines for further details.

How can your input influence the decision?

Your input will help finalise this draft management plan, which government will then use to regulate how it manages and monitors abundant kangaroo species and the commercial kangaroo industry for the next five years.

What are the next steps?

A report outlining ‘what we heard’ and ‘what changed as a result’ will be prepared and published here and on the DEW Kangaroo Conservation and Management webpage in early 2020.

Based on this feedback, a new management plan will be prepared and sent to the South Australian Minister for Environment and Water for approval and adoption. The final management plan will also be published here and on the Department for Environment and Water website in 2020.

Contact:

For further information:

• email: kmp@sa.gov.au

• phone: (08) 8648 5300

Closing date: 5pm Friday 6 September 2019

Background

Now closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 06 June 2019 to 06 September 2019. Below is a record of this engagement.

FAQs and Consultation Guidelines

What are the key changes that have been made to the plan?

The new plan describes the South Australian Government’s proposal to extend the commercial kangaroo harvesting zone to cover the entire state, excluding metropolitan Adelaide, and, for cultural reasons, the Alinytjara Wiluṟara Natural Resources Management region.

This will create four new harvest sub-regions: Hills and Fleurieu, Kangaroo Island, Lower South East and Upper South East, and an extension to the existing Murray Mallee and Mid North sub-regions.

In these areas, kangaroo and/or wallaby species are abundant and causing damage to environmental values, agricultural land, infrastructure or public safety.

It is also proposed that four additional kangaroo species (tammar wallaby, Kangaroo Island sub-species of western grey kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo and red-necked wallaby) are permitted to be commercially harvested.

Your comments are being sought on the proposed:

1. new harvesting areas
2. new species
3. changes to the methods for determining harvesting quotas

What is commercial harvesting?

Commercial harvesting is the humane culling of wild kangaroos by professional shooters. The kangaroo carcasses can then be sold for meat and leather production. Since European settlement, the common kangaroo and wallaby species have increased in abundance due to changes in land use, habitat modification, increased artificial water points and reduced predation. Commercial harvesting is an additional land management option available to landholders to reduce the damage caused by these common kangaroo species on the environment, agricultural and pastoral lands; support kangaroo welfare and reduce the danger to motorists. It also allows for kangaroo carcasses to be used for meat or skin production rather than left on the ground after culling non-commercially.

What does the current management plan enable?

The management plan enables commercial harvesting to take place while ensuring the long-term conservation of the kangaroo species across South Australia. It is based on an adaptive management framework that allows the revision of management practices informed by the best scientific knowledge available and monitoring of kangaroo abundance over time. However, current kangaroo management practices have been insufficient in reducing the kangaroo population across the state and is geared toward the conservation of the species rather than managing the overabundance.

What has changed?

Since 2018, when the current plan was adopted, there has been an unprecedented increase in kangaroo numbers across much of South Australia. Drying conditions have made some impact on the large numbers in the north of the state, but populations remain high in southern regions of the state. Primary producers and regional communities have felt constrained in their ability to manage the overabundance of kangaroos within the current management system.

What is being done to address the issue?

Primary producers, local government, some conservationists and the kangaroo industry are calling for more flexibility in commercial kangaroo management to help land managers reduce kangaroo impacts on agriculture and the environment. The South Australian Government has agreed to embark on creating a new model for commercial kangaroo harvesting across the state. The Department for Environment and Water has worked through a variety of options for how the commercial industry is managed across the state to make sure that we achieve an ecologically sustainable outcome. The draft South Australian Commercial Kangaroo Management Plan 2020-2024 has been developed to present the new management strategies and seek input from interested parties to ensure the best options are selected.

Is anything else changing in addition to the plan?

To enable changes to the commercial kangaroo industry, government must also make amendments to the National Parks and Wildlife (Kangaroo Harvesting) Regulations 2018 to allow the new kangaroo species to be harvested.

Consultation guidelines

The following criteria will guide how all comments received will be examined and will influence the draft management plan:

1. The draft management plan will be changed if the point:
(a) provides additional information of direct relevance to management;
(b) indicates or clarifies a change in Government legislation, management commitment or management policy;
(c) proposes strategies that would better achieve or assist with management objectives;
(d) prompts a re-consideration of the objective and/or strategy and results in an alternative objective and/or strategy for kangaroo management or the kangaroo industry;
(e) is an alternate viewpoint received on the topic and is considered a better option than that proposed in the draft Management plan; or
(f) indicates omissions, inaccuracies or a lack of clarity.

2. The draft management plan will not be changed if the point:
(a) addresses issues beyond the scope of the plan;
(b) was already in the Management plan or will be considered during the development of a subordinate plan;
(c) offers an open statement, or no change is sought;
(d) clearly supports the draft proposals;
(e) is an alternate viewpoint received on the topic but the proposal of the draft Management plan is still considered the best option;
(f) is based on incorrect information;
(g) contributes options that are not possible or inconsistent with overarching legislation, Government policy or management direction; or
(h) involves details that are not appropriate or necessary for inclusion in a document aimed at providing management direction over the long term.