Answers to Questions

Kangaroo Culling

In reply to the Hon. M.C. PARNELL (17 February 2021).

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services): The Department for Environment and Water has advised:

The South Australian Commercial Kangaroo Management Plan 2020-24 (the management plan) has been developed to guide the sustainable management of commercial kangaroo harvesting in South Australia. The management plan is prepared in accordance with the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 and satisfies the requirements of the relevant commonwealth legislation, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The primary goal of the management plan is to ensure an ecologically sustainable harvest of kangaroos and to provide a mechanism to reduce the damage that can be caused by overabundant kangaroos. This is achieved through the application of the best available scientific knowledge, best practice management and monitoring of outcomes, to ensure that the viability of kangaroo populations is not compromised by any action undertaken in accordance with the management plan.

The management plan provides a framework for the sustainable harvest quotas to be calculated based on population surveys. Permits for commercial harvest of kangaroos allow for a set proportion of the population to be harvested each year. In circumstances where the kangaroo population is low, based on the results of the population surveys, the plan provides for the reduction in harvest quota and the number of permits that can be issued, or in certain circumstances, the closure of specific harvest zones.