Here is an extract from an email sent to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Clare Scriven, following a series of actions to ensure and enable Kangaroo killing while the South Australian Government’s own inquiry into Kangaroo and Wallaby populations in South Australia was being held and to which we all made submissions, not knowing what underhand behaviours would occur:

“As a basic principle you should note that that the claimed population increases in 2023-24 are biologically impossible (fivefold) and that all governments around the world have a duty of care to protect and conserve endemic species, South Australia is a very long way from that. Perhaps, ask yourself why the actual take against commercial quota in South Australia in 2024 was just 17 per cent (the lowest of all Australian states) and our forecasts show that in 2025 it will be just 12 per cent – it will be extremely interesting to see what difference your bounty will make”.

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South Australia: Reported actual take in 2024

In South Australia in 2024 a total of 105,845 Kangaroos were shot for commercial gain (excluding joeys) in South Australia. That was just 17 per cent of quota which was set at 635,400. The quota, a number which included the five species of Macropod currently killed for commercial gain in the state.

• The Red Kangaroo suffered the most of the five species commercially exploited in the state and 63,664 Red Kangaroos were killed in 2024.
• The South Australian Government data shows that the number of Red Kangaroos killed for commercial gain was largest in the eastern pastoral shooting zone, where 29,194 Red Kangaroos were killed.
• Western Grey Kangaroos came second on this disgraceful league table at 29,518 animals kill for commercial gain.
• The highest number of Western Grey Kangaroos killed were in the eastern agricultural shooting zone, where 10,069 Western Grey Kangaroos were killed.
• For the Euro, the highest take was 2,529 in the eastern agricultural shooting zone.
• Eastern grey Kangaroos were killed in the lower south east sub region within the southern agricultural shooting zone and 7,516 Eastern Grey Kangaroos were killed in that zone.
• No Tammar Wallabies were killed for commercial gain in 2024. The 2024 quota was 19,200.

The share of females killed for commercial gain was as follows:

• Red Kangaroo – 21 per cent female;
• Western Grey Kangaroo – 32 per cent female;
• Euro – 2 per cent female;
• Eastern Grey Kangaroo – 40 per cent female; and
• Number of joeys killed by decapitation or beating to death (estimate) – 25,950 (additional to government published data).

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History of actual take against quota for South Australia from 1975 by species and population estimates since 1978

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Non-commercial ‘destruction permits’ to kill Kangaroos in South Australia in 2024

1,584 permits were issued to kill 109,497 Kangaroos in South Australia in 2024, the outcome of which is unknown.

Comprised:

• Red Kangaroo – 15,102;
• Western Grey Kangaroo – 73,910;
• Euro – 6,676;
• Eastern Grey Kangaroo – 1,989; and
• Tammar Wallaby –11,820.

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Killing Kangaroos on public land in South Australia in 2024, National Parks and Wildlife Reserves

This activity is particularly shameful and means there are no safe places for Kangaroos or Wallabies in South Australia.

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Non-commercial killing was undertaken in 9 parks where the following were killed:

• Red Kangaroo – 49;
• Western Grey Kangaroo – 1,685 (this includes the Sooty Kangaroo, the Western Grey from Kangaroo Island); and
• Euro – 406.

A total of 2,140 Kangaroos were killed using destruction permits, of this number 50 per cent or 1,077 Kangaroos were killed in the Gawler Ranges National Park.

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Killing for commercial gain was undertaken in 5 parks where the following were killed:

• Red Kangaroo – 1,240;
• Western Grey Kangaroo– 729; and
• Euro – 20

In 2024, a total of 1,989 Kangaroos were killed for commercial gain in nature parks, that is 889 more than in the previous year.

We assume joeys are additional and not accounted for?

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