2026: Kangaroo population estimates and quotas mainland Australia (commercially exploited species)
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“Although the latest Australian Kangaroo population estimates show significant decline they remain significantly overstated and this means that the resulting commercial quotas are unsustainable, leading to actual long-term declines”. Peter Hylands
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Australia mainland government population estimates and quotas
- 2026: Population estimate – 35,330,176 (excludes Western Australia)
- 2025: Population estimate - 41,129,765 (excludes Western Australia)
- Difference – decline of 5,799,589
- 2026: Quota – 4,999,775 (excludes Western Australia) (excludes 1,280,000 joeys that would be killed but not accounted for)
- 2025 : Quota – 6,051,602 (excludes Western Australia) (excludes 1,545,00 joeys that would be killed but not accounted for)
- Difference – decline of 1,051,827
Nature Knowledge Channel estimates for population and actual kill against commercial quota Australian mainland
- 2026: Population estimate (excludes Western Australia) – 11,306,000
- 2025: Population estimate (excludes Western Australia) – 13,161,000
- 2026: Estimate of actual kill against quota (excludes Western Australia) – 1,290,000 (26 per cent of government proposed quota)
- 2025: Estimate of actual kill against quota (excludes Western Australia) – 1,320,000 (22 per cent of government proposed quota)
State Government Kangaroo population estimates and quotas provided to the Australian Government
Queensland
- 2026: Population estimate - 19,308,148
- 2025: Population estimate - 19,948,800
- 2026: Quota - 2,850,900
- 2025 : Quota - 2,941,550
New South Wales
- 2026: Population estimate - 9,586,809
- 2025: Population estimate - 13,910,688
- 2026: Commercial quota - 1,453,025
- 2025 : Commercial quota - 2,186,952
South Australia
- 2026: Population estimate – 4,129,219
- 2025: Population estimate - 5,192,277
- 2026: Commercial quota – 600,400
- 2025 : Commercial quota – 805,500
Victoria
- 2026: Population estimate - 2,306,000
- 2025: Population estimate - 2,078,000
- 2026: Commercial quota - 95,450
- 2025 : Commercial quota - 117,600
Western Australia
- 2026: Population estimate – not know
- 2025: Population estimate - 1,304,090
- 2026: Commercial quota - not know
- 2025 : Commercial quota - 182,390
NOTES
- Western Australia will provide its population estimates and quotas following their KMAC meeting, for which, as at time of writing, no date has been set. As a result Western Australia is not included in the comparisons at the Australian mainland level.
- (Excluding Western Australia) The Queensland population estimates in 2026 accounts for 54.7 per cent of the Australian mainland population estimate. The Queensland commercial quota in 2026 accounts for 57 per cent of the Australian mainland quota. The questionable Queensland estimates play a significant role (they do this every year) in distorting Kangaroo estimates and resulting quotas.
- In 2026, Victoria is the only state to report an overall population increase over the previous year. Total nonsense of course.
- Tasmania is not required to report its commercial exploitation of Kangaroos and Wallabies in the same way that all other states do and hence is not included in the Australian Governments reporting on the commercial exploitation of Kangaroos. There should be no exception to the rules.
- The ACT and Northern Territory do not have a commercial wildlife trade in Kangaroo species.
- The 2026 population estimate on which the 2026 quota is derived and calculated, are from surveys conducted in 2025. Thus the 2025 population estimate that informed that year’s quota was calculated from surveys in 2024.
- The number of species and species being exploited commercially differ across the states. South Australia commercially exploits the most species, while Western Australia and Victoria exploit the least number of species, in the case of Western Australia that is the Red Kangaroo and the Western Grey Kangaroo and in Victoria it is the Eastern Grey Kangaroo and the Western Grey Kangaroo. The numbers given above are the totals for all species in the given state.
- Kangaroo Island Tammar Wallaby: While the species is listed on the commercial list in South Australia its population estimate appears significantly overstated at 87 animals per square kilometer across the entire island and the actual number exploited for commercial gain in 2025 (from the latest data we have) is zero. This adds to the already inflated population estimates in the state and adds to the misconception that the total commercial take of all species in South Australia, as a percentage of population is low, and hence is sustainable.
South Australia is worth a special mention, because of all mainland Australian states, it has the greatest sustained loss of its Macropod populations. with serial declines, year on year, for the last 30 years, due to over exploitation. Despite the claims of booming populations, a trip around South Australia tells a very different story.
The South Australian Government's Kangaroo bounties introduced in 2025 will intensify harm to remaining Kangaroo populations in the state. The latest addition to the bounties towards year end being, and I quota the government here:
“A total of $350,000 is available for this initiative to provide incentives for primary producers, to remove starving Kangaroos. These incentives are the subject of these guidelines…. under this incentive, PIRSA is paying primary producers”.
This and more regulation to remove Kangaroo populations from the state, including public land, all going on at pace while the Inquiry into Kangaroo and Wallaby Populations in South Australia was underway. The inquiry has not been completed, and remains so, as South Australia heads for an election on 21 March 2026.
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Related
2026: Commercial exploitation of Kangaroos in Queensland
The Queensland Government’s population estimate for the 3 commercially exploited species in Queensland's 5 commercial shooting zones is 19,308,148 giving a commercial quota in 2026 of 2,850,900 with a DMP quota of 386,164.
2026: Commercial exploitation of Kangaroos In New South Wales
The population estimate for Kangaroos in New South Wales has fallen to 9,586,809 from 13,910,688, resulting in a decline in commercial quota for 2026 of 733,927 Kangaroos.
2026: Commercial exploitation of Kangaroos in South Australia
Our experience of South Australian landscapes is one of total absence. The myths of booming populations and mass starvation, are precisely that, myths. The population estimates for 2026 show a 31 per cent decline in the population of Red Kangaroos.
2026: Commercial exploitation of Kangaroos in Victoria
An increase in the population estimate for Grey Kangaroos in Victoria, leading to a 2026 quota of 207,800, a decrease over 2025 of 49,204 (the commercial component being 95,450).