Shooters want kangaroos declared a pest

Declare them a pest, and let hunters do the work at no cost to taxpayers.

Shooters Union Australia was responding to a unprecedented call from the nation's best wildlife scientists for a national approach to combat the problem.

The scientists, wildlife experts from most universities around Australia, agree current strategies on curbing kangaroo numbers are not working.

What many people have seen as a complete reversal of recent scientific opinion has emboldened the commercial kangaroo industry to emulate the giant strides being made by the domestic goat industry.

There are an estimated 40 million kangaroos in Australia.

Scientists have embraced the need for more culling, and also want to see prices paid for kangaroo meat trebled to encourage more harvesting.

Twenty-five ecological, conservation, animal welfare and Aboriginal organisations have also supported the experts' call.

Shooters union president Graham Park said his more than 20,000 members are ready to tackle the problem.

Mr Park said there was a twofold solution to the kangaroo plague, at least from an agricultural management and biosecurity perspective.

"Firstly, state or local governments should be able to declare kangaroos pests at an individual local government area level and let any licensed firearms owner shoot them in exactly the same way they can currently shoot rabbits, foxes, goats, and pigs," he said.

Kangaroos are protected under Australian law with strict limits on culling, a number set annually by the states and territories.

"Secondly, there's enormous potential for commercial involvement, harvesting kangaroos for meat and leather," Mr Park said.

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The scientists want the value of a kangaroo carcase to rise from about $20 each to around $70-$80 to encourage more commercial harvesting.

"Make it easier for people in rural areas to use kangaroos as an economic resource to boost employment and investment in their region," Mr Park said.

Many others besides the shooters' union have pointed out over the years the problems cause by the legal protection of a native species which outnumbers people by two to one.

Mr Park said pest declarations could be made at local government level.

" ... and be subject to regular review to ensure appropriate population, ecosystem and biodiversity management."

He said hunters were not calling for indiscriminate slaughter of kangaroos.

"Our proposal is the pest declarations be handled by local government areas, so areas with plague numbers can deal with them effectively and humanely, while in areas where kangaroos are not as plentiful they will still continue to enjoy the current protections."

Mr Park said making it easier for regional Australians to use kangaroos as a commercial resource would only have benefits for the country, too.

He said the animal's leather was well regarded for being tough and durable.

"Australia is supposed to be an innovative country - so let's remove the red tape around shooting kangaroos and let people innovate."

The scientists want a National Kangaroo Taskforce established to tackle the problem.