University of Technology, Sydney

 

Ecology

Common long held beliefs about harvested kangaroos are that they are pests that have benefited from human induced landscape change. Enclosed or isolated kangaroo populations in reserves are thought to impact biodiversity and are routinely culled. Over forty years of scientific research has yielded much information about the ecology of various kangaroo species, particularly the harvested ones, that does not always support these broad assumptions. In some cases information clearly negates the assumptions. 

P1030692 David   Male Red Kangaroos Sheltering In Sturt Np

The well being of kangaroo populations is inextricably tied to the wellbeing of the Australian landscape. As such, available but often ignored scientific information should be brought to the fore and areas lacking information should be identified to better inform kangaroo management decisions. Issues to be addressed include kangaroo impacts on grasslands, trigger points, competition with livestock, peri-urban population dynamics and landscape impact, harvesting during drought, stochastic population modelling and bio-economic population modelling of kangaroos under market driven harvesting pressure.<<develop the context/significance of each of these issues>>