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Cull ends, reserves reopen, 1041 kangaroos ‘removed’

THE guns have fallen silent after the ACT’s latest, month-long kangaroo cull of more than a thousand animals ends and four reserves reopen.

Reopened to the public without restrictions are: Mulanggari Grasslands, Red Hill Nature Reserve, Pinnacle Nature Reserve and Molonglo River Reserve – Kama section.

The kangaroo cull has ended at Mount Ainslie and Mount Majura Nature Reserves, however Mount Majura and sections of Mount Ainslie will remain closed from 8pm to 3am on Tuesdays and Thursdays as part of ongoing rabbit control operations.

In thanking the Canberra community for their “co-operation and understanding during this important management program,” the ACT government says fertility control activities, through the ongoing use of GonaCon Immunocontraceptive Vaccine, will continue as part of its Eastern Grey Kangaroo Management Program.

“The ACT has some of the largest and highest quality remnants of Natural Temperate Grassland and Box-Gum Grassy Woodland in Australia. Both ecological communities are now listed as critically endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act,” the government says in an unattributed media release.

“To protect these ecological communities a total of 1041 kangaroos have been removed by conservation officers.”

 

 

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3 Responses to Cull ends, reserves reopen, 1041 kangaroos ‘removed’

Palmerston's Nature Lament says: 21 July 2023 at 3:36 pm

Biologically, the breeding females are now with developing pouch young with all last season’s offspring at heel, behaving much like the sulky teenagers they are.

With spring’s bounty already obvious in the trees, the next four week’s will prove hard for the old and the weak as food sources decrease and overnight temperatures remain low. The succulent grass of last year is now long gone, and the main source of nutrients lies in the roots of the grasses and along the roadside.

With the cull now over, unseen, silent dying within the ranks of the old and the weak will thin out numbers across the cold, dark nights. Then the young males will sense the changing power and start to battle for alpha status; with this the new season starts again.

Until then we wait for the spring warmth and rains to arrive.

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Keith Thomas says: 23 July 2023 at 8:09 pm

1,000 kangaroos – that’s be about 25 tonnes of meat (butchered) for humans and another 10 tons of pet food.
But none of it was allowed to be used for that purpose. Next time you see references to “food waste” just think of this. I would have been happy to take a fresh carcass or two at no cost to the government – in fact I would save them the disposal cost.

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Palmerston's Nature Lament says: 25 April 2024 at 6:19 pm

Fast forward a year and what has changed? Kangaroo numbers remain very high, there are at least six car related kills along the roads as the males move out of their habitat, and the mating bands have formed up again.

You could remove an easy 100 count from the Percival Hill Reserve and not notice the reduction.

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