Shooters are no longer required to be listed on the licence application form and the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment no longer issues separate licences to shooters. Instead, licence holders must maintain a register of the names and firearms licence numbers of shooters and provide this detail to NPWS in their licence return.
Local Land Services LLS has established a register of licensed commercial harvesters, and professional and experienced volunteer recreational shooters who are willing to assist landholders to manage kangaroos. Landholders who wish to obtain contact details of a shooter in their region can visit the Local Land Services website for more information to register online.
There is no limit on the number of shooters that can operate on your property at any one time, however, culling operations should be undertaken in a manner to ensure the safety of all persons on your and nearby properties, including any adjoining public land. All people authorised to shoot kangaroos under a licence to harm kangaroos are required to comply with firearms laws and firearms licence conditions.
All shooters must hold a current firearms licence appropriate for the firearm being used. This licence must include at least one genuine reason that is consistent with their kangaroo-shooting activity. The GunSmart campaign offers useful tips and tools to help shooters to keep themselves and others safe.
Kangaroo culling on or near small properties may pose a risk to the safety and amenity of people and livestock on neighbouring properties.
Tags are no longer required to be attached to carcasses of animals culled under a non-commercial licence to harm kangaroos. Commercial tags are still required for kangaroos harvested by licensed kangaroo harvesters. Carcasses must not be sold, swapped or traded.
They may be used by landholders and shooters for any secondary purpose, including for pest animal baiting programs. Records must be provided to your local NPWS office with 7 days of the expiry of your licence.
Further licence applications may not be considered if record sheets are not provided. To help landholders manage the impacts of kangaroos, while maintaining ecologically sustainable kangaroo populations, maximum cull limits are set according to property size for the 4 species subject to commercial harvesting eastern grey, western grey, red and wallaroo in each kangaroo management zone. These are revised each year using the latest kangaroo population survey data and don't apply to the commercial kangaroo harvest program.
When assessing licence applications, NPWS aims to authorise harm to the smallest number of animals possible to mitigate the impacts of kangaroos. The number authorised won't exceed the set maximum limits per licence.
Monthly reviews of licences issued to landholders and commercial harvesters are undertaken to ensure kangaroo populations are ecologically sustainable for all species and zones. If, after review, changes to the maximum limits for non-commercial licences are announced, they will only apply to new licences granted after the date of the announcement. To facilitate this regular monitoring, licences are typically granted for a maximum 3 months. The maximum limits per non-commercial licence for are based on updated kangaroo population estimates and commercial harvest quotas for , which are published in the Quota Report.
The Quota Report indicates NSW kangaroo populations are relatively stable, with significant decreases of some species in some zones offset by increases in other zones. In some circumstances, instead of setting maximum limits, licence applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Kangaroos are native to Australia however, when early settlers cut down trees to make way for development, grassland became more prevalent.
As a result, the kangaroo population began to grow in enormous numbers and there are now an estimated million in the wild, though this number has been subject to much debate. Ordinarily, it is illegal to kill, buy, sell or possess a kangaroo in Australia.
This has resulted in the largest slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet. In the past 20 years, 90 million kangaroos and wallabies have been lawfully killed for commercial purposes. Approximately 3 million adult kangaroos are killed in Australia per year. Due to the fact that the law is divided between the Commonwealth and the state governments in Australia, the regulation of kangaroo culling is complex. Additionally, there is different legislation dependent upon whether kangaroos are killed for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
This definition takes into account the demand for both kangaroo meat, as well as hides or leather. Kangaroo meat is used both for pet food and human consumption. The Commercial Code was produced in order to minimise pain and suffering caused to kangaroos and wallabies as a result of being killed in the wild.
Shooters must take a marksmanship course before being provided with a licence. The Australian government justifies the non-commercial killing of kangaroos based on the aforementioned environmental concerns. Without these natural predators—and with the additional waterways and pastures that have been cleared for agriculture—kangaroo numbers have grown. The issue of sustainability boils down to how many kangaroos there actually are.
But counting animals spread over three million square miles is no small task. The government conducts an annual census using ground and aerial surveys, but some ecologists and animal-advocacy groups have taken issue with the way the data from them is extrapolated.
Mjadwesch says a high growth rates for kangaroos would be around 15 to 17 percent under good conditions, and a few studies have calculated a growth rate of 30 percent, feasible only under exceptionally good seasonal conditions and not taking into consideration mortality rate and other corrective factors. Kangaroo populations have risen recently, thanks to good rainfall, but young kangaroos, called joeys, have a relatively low survival rate and are particularly susceptible to drought and other environmental changes.
During the s Australia faced one of its worst droughts on record, causing kangaroo numbers to drop to But dry weather in the summer could bring another kangaroo famine. Many wildlife managers and conservationists share this sentiment: An immediate death is better than dying of thirst or hunger.
But the coupling of the cull with a commercial industry is where things can get fuzzier, says Marc Beckoff, a behavioral ecologist who has spoken out against the kangaroo hunt. Commercial kangaroo shooters must adhere to standards of humane killing, set out by a national code of practice. It requires them to kill each kangaroo with a single shot to the head and, to prevent prolonged suffering, making certain the animal is dead before targeting another one.
Hunters are also required to take a shooting skills test to ensure they have consistent, accurate aim. Many ecologists have pointed out that shooting a wild animal in its natural environment is more humane than the conditions under which livestock are often raised and slaughtered. But because kangaroos are nocturnal, hunting takes place in cover of darkness, which makes getting a clean single shot to the head more challenging.
The report commends the industry for that level of humane kills but adds that that level of compliance still means that more than , kangaroos were not shot in the head. It adds that the random field audits by government inspectors are not always routine and that because hunters are most careful when being observed, the results might not reflect reality.
A particularly contentious issue is what happens to joeys when their mothers are killed. As animal-advocacy groups pressure sports equipment manufacturers, including Adidas and Nike, the use of kangaroo leather seems to have declined.
The reason is unclear. In a U. Kangaroo meat is promoted as lean less than 2 percent fat , natural, and sustainable— and kangaroos produce less methane , a significant greenhouse gas, than cows and sheep. Companies are also moving away from using kangaroo meat for pet food, which now accounts for about 10 percent of the industry, according to Kelly. Any quarterly unallocated quota may be rolled into the next quarter release. The total number of grey kangaroos taken in Victoria will be monitored closely throughout the year.
Previously harvesters were considered active across all zones if they could demonstrate they met the active criteria for one zone. As of January , the status of a harvester is assessed per harvest zone. Harvesters must demonstrate activity in the zone in which they are applying for quota. A harvesters initial status per zone for will be based on their activity in that zone throughout October- December last three months of The tag allocation rules outlined below will continue to apply to all harvesters for as they did in Tag allocation rules were introduced in , to prevent non-active harvesters from stockpiling unused tags.
This allows the international export of kangaroo products from this program. On 1 st February , the Meat Industry Act was amended. As a result, vehicles used in harvest, processing, storage or transport of kangaroos for pet or human food or other commercial products, must be licensed with PrimeSafe. For further information on these regulatory changes please visit the PrimeSafe website. Please ensure you are using Chrome as your browser when registering or logging into their system. Register as a harvester.
Log in as an existing Service Victoria user. Interstate or equivalent qualifications are accepted. Interstate qualifications are accepted.
0コメント