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• ACRIS Kangaroo Density Update 2004-2008 (PDF - 2.8 MB) |  (Word - 1.8 MB)

About the report

Change in kangaroo densities between 1993 and 2003 was reported for the New South Wales rangelands and parts of Queensland and South Australia in the ‘Total grazing pressure’ section of Rangelands 2008 - Taking the pulse (Bastin et al. 2008) (see pages 64-67).

This brief report updates changes in kangaroo density between 2004 and 2008, and also includes information for the southern and western parts of the WA rangelands (2009 data also available for WA).

Key points

Systematic surveys of kangaroo numbers continue across the NSW rangelands, the sheep-grazed pastoral tenure of SA and much of western Queensland. Similar surveys also occur in the southern and western parts of the WA rangelands and these data are now available to ACRIS.

Additional data since 2003 show that:

• The combined density of kangaroo species in WA (reds and western greys) was much lower than the combined density of species in eastern states (including SA).
• There has been a general decline in kangaroo populations in all bioregions (with available data for reporting) since 2003. Regional densities in 2008 were generally considerably below the average for the 1984-93 period (used as a base for reporting change).
• Density declines were related to drier years (poorer seasonal quality) in the middle years of the last decade. For the example bioregions examined (see Figure 5 in accompanying PDF report) there has been a variable response with better seasons towards the end of the reporting period. Kangaroo densities have remained largely unchanged in some regions and slowly increased in others.