Kangaroo Managment Plan - Territory and Municipal Services - ACT ...

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ACT KANGAROO MANAGEMENT PLAN which are endangered or critically endangered) may be placed at risk when grazing pressure is too intense. Grazing pressure may also come from rabbits and this has grown as a management issue with the decline in the effectiveness of the Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (‘calicivirus’). Low rainfall conditions are an important consideration in ecosystem effects, but characteristically the decline in the condition of the pasture precedes the decline in the condition of the herbivore i.e. the herbivore population may appear ‘healthy’ even though its food source is in severe decline (s. 3.3.8). Current management needs to take into account the conditions under which various plants and animals in the grasslands evolved but are no longer present today; in particular, dingo and Aboriginal predation of native herbivores, the fire regime, and small-scale soil disturbance by animals such as bandicoots and bettongs (s. 3.5.1). On-going management will always be required to substitute for the elements and processes that are now missing from the system (Braid et al. 2008). Some of the threatened grassland plant and animal species are now restricted to only one or a few scattered populations and are highly vulnerable to adverse changes in their habitat. These changes such as habitat loss through over-grazing have the potential to tip small, isolated populations into local or absolute extinction. Maintaining and restoring the ecological integrity of these grassy ecosystems and therefore habitat for threatened species, as well as other grassland dependent species, is the primary reason for reducing grazing pressure. Many of the threatened plants and animals in native grassy ecosystems are rare (though they may be locally common), often cryptic and inconspicuous, possess unusual life cycles that result in them being rarely observed, and are little known out of scientific and conservation circles. While there are animal rights campaigns regarding kangaroos (s. 1.4.3(b)), there are no equivalent campaigns for the protection of these small grassland animals, some of which are critically endangered and are the subject of specific conservation management programs. In recent years, the issue of excessive kangaroo grazing pressure has arisen most notably in relation to three areas where culls were undertaken: Majura Training Area, the decommissioned Royal Australian Naval Transmitting Station at Lawson (commonly and herein, referred to as Belconnen Naval Transmitting Station), and Googong Foreshores. It was also a significant management issue for Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve in the 1990s. There are some less well known areas where excessive kangaroo grazing pressure is a growing management problem including Mt Painter (kangaroo and rabbit grazing inhibiting rehabilitation work); Jerrabomberra Grassland reserves (habitat for grassland threatened species); and Mulligans Flat – Goorooyarroo nature reserves (where experimental kangaroo exclosures were established in 2009 to rest native grasses from grazing pressure and allow seeding). 1.4.1 (b) Can a native species negatively impact on another native species? The question sometimes arises as to whether a native species can impact on another native species to the extent that this contributes to, or causes extinction. There are many examples of species, aided by human activity, which have increased their population to unsustainable levels, such as deer in North America and Scotland (Côté et al. 2004; Diamond 1992; Hercock 2004; Hone 2007; Porter and Underwood 1999; Watson 1989). It is common for such species, as well as species whose range has expanded, to have undesirable effects on other native species (ACT Government 2004; Goodrich and Buskirk 1995) (s. 3.6.4). The potential impact of excessive kangaroo grazing pressure on remnant native grassy ecosystems and their constituent species in the ACT has become apparent due to the substantial increase in knowledge and understanding of those ecosystems since the early 1990s. Page 8
INTRODUCTION 1.4.1 (c)Free-ranging kangaroos in parks and reserves Free-ranging kangaroo populations in ACT parks and reserves provide a wildlife spectacle (s. 1.4.3) with the management issues varying between different areas. The management plan considers the ongoing management of these populations including those at the reserve–rural land interface. 1.4.2 Economic considerations The presence of kangaroo populations can have both positive and negative economic impacts. In both instances these impacts are often difficult to quantify. However, for some impacts there is data such as the insurance costs for vehicle damage in collisions or avoidance of collisions with kangaroos. With regard to rural lands, while there is no doubt that kangaroos compete with domestic livestock for food and water, the extent of this impact and the strength and nature of the competition are very difficult to quantify, though across Australia kangaroos are clearly perceived as pests by the majority of primary producers whose land they share (Pople and Grigg 1999, referring to Gibson and Young 1988; Shepherd and Caughley 1987). 1.4.2 (a) Positive economic impacts: nature-based tourism Kangaroo populations in the ACT including free ranging mobs in parks and reserves (e.g. at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and in Namadgi National Park) as well as urban and near-urban populations, all of which are readily observed, contribute to tourist experiences of the National Capital, and may be seen as contributing to the economic benefit of the Territory through naturebased tourism. 1.4.2 (b) Negative economic impacts: rural lands Kangaroo populations are considered by rural lessees to have a negative impact on the economic viability of rural properties as one of the components of total grazing pressure. Consideration of this economic harm has been factored into a number of previous and current ACT Government policies (provision of rental rebates, construction of electric fences at reserve boundaries, and culling licences). The key issues for rural lessees are competition with livestock for pasture (Shepherd and Caughley 1987) and damage to fences. Other impacts include kangaroo grazing on improved pasture and fodder crops; the potential for land degradation related to over-grazing by livestock, kangaroos and feral animals; and competition with stock for drinking water in drought conditions (Pople and Grigg 1999). 1.4.2 (c) Negative economic impacts: other lands Kangaroo management may be an issue also on other lands, which include ACT Government managed land, leased Territory Land and Commonwealth managed National Land (see s. 2.2). Some of these areas have high densities of kangaroos, including populations that are enclosed by boundary fences. With regard to the latter, management of the kangaroo population at Government House (Yarralumla) since the early 1990s has shown the long-term benefit of taking action to control kangaroo numbers. 1.4.2 (d) Negative economic impacts: vehicle collisions and collision avoidance The presence of free-ranging kangaroos along roadsides has a significant economic impact in the ACT due to collisions between kangaroos and motor-vehicles and accidents derived from Page 9
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