Page 3574 - Week 08 - Thursday, 18 August 2011

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(b) There is no inconsistency in the position that fecundity in eastern grey kangaroo populations in the ACT is high in conditions of drought and high rainfall. A widespread, and incorrect, assumption about the biology of eastern grey kangaroos in temperate Australia is that they are able to control their fertility and stop breeding during times of drought. This assumption may have arisen from studies on red kangaroos in arid Australia that do limit their breeding during times of drought.

(4) The following table (Table 2) provides the population sizes and densities in the sites before the cull, estimated by either faecal pellet counts or by visual counts:

(5) The following table (Table 3) shows the target populations and densities for the culled areas.

(6) Yes. Once a site is added to the culling program it will be culled in subsequent years as required to maintain the population at the target density. Other sites will be assessed and added to the program as funding permits. Priority will be given to sites where there is concern that the kangaroo population is or could be negatively impacting on endangered ecological communities or threatened species. The culling program will be undertaken regardless of seasonal conditions. Abandoning the culling in a season of good growth would result in a larger cull, with more animals in total being killed, once conditions decline again. Culling will not be undertaken on sites that are assessed to be at or below their target density.

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