Kangaroos in Queensland: Commercial kill Q1 2026 (to 7 April 2026)
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"The commercial kill in Q1 2026 was composed of 66,830 Eastern Grey Kangaroos of which 6,128 were reported as female, 58,282 Red Kangaroos of which 5,602 were reported as females and 16,856 Wallaroos of which just 19 were reported as female".
CONTEXT: Recent population estimates (Queensland Government)
The total Queensland population estimates of the three commercially exploited species as given by Queensland and Commonwealth Governments was as follows:
- 2025 – 19,308,148
- 2024 – 19,948,800
- 2023 – 17,727,700
- 2021 – 12,959,400
- 2020 – 16,663, 850
- 2018 – 20,999,900
- 2013 – 32,803,900
Biologically impossible population estimate increases are commonplace, in Queensland, in the years 2000-2001 there was an increase in the population estimate of 10,360,000 on a base of 21,750,000 when the maximum increase possible in the best of circumstances was 2,000,000 increase without the mass killing, so at least a fivefold exaggeration.
Between the years 1998-2002 the estimates from the Queensland Government gave a Kangaroo population that had increased from 11,320,000 to 37,574,300. That is more than tripling in the period, then falling in the next year back to 22,856,128. Total nonsense of course.
Image above, children crossing sign Quilpie, Queensland.
Reports show that total number of Kangaroo killed in quarter 1 was 141,968 of which 8 per cent, 11,749 were reported to be female with a likelihood that 10,500 unaccounted for joeys were also killed by blunt force beating or decapitation.
The commercial kill in Q1 2026 was composed of 66,830 Eastern Grey Kangaroos of which 6,128 were reported as female, 58,282 Red Kangaroos of which 5,602 were reported as females and 16,856 Wallaroos of which just 19 were reported as female.
The full year commercial Kangaroo quota for Queensland in 2026 for all three commercially exploited species (2025 population estimate which sets the 2026 quota) which is based on the Queensland Government’s population estimate of 19,308,148 is 2,850,900 (with an additional DMP quota of 386,164).
The reality for 2026 is that the actual number of Kangaroos that will die by the bullet (excluding joeys which are beaten to death or decapitated) will be in the region of 500,000 to 600,000. Given the combined DMP and commercial quota for 2026 is a staggering 3,237,064 and taking the mid-point in the Nature Knowledge Chanel’s estimated take for the year, that means that just 17 per cent of the combined quotas are likely to be ‘achieved’.
In turn that tells us that there is something very wrong with the Queensland methodologies of estimating populations and resulting quotas.
We should note that the commercial quota for Queensland in 2025 was 2,941,550, a significant increase from the commercial quota applied in 2024 which was 2,486,400 and again up from 2,210,400 in 2023. In 2025, the actual commercial take was estimated at 585,000 and will be confirmed when the government’s data is published.
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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.
Review of Kangaroo data for commercially exploited species 1980-2025 (all government sources)
This analysis is a rebuild of annual Kangaroo population estimates, commercial quotas and actual take from 1980, including the population estimate data removed from the public gaze.