Farmers across NSW are hand feeding livestock and resting paddocks in the hope that when the rain falls the grass will grow.
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But with Government estimates of nearly 14.5 million kangaroos in NSW alone, they are fighting a losing battle.
This is double the number of kangaroos in South Australia and Western Australia combined.
Ten years ago there was less than half this number at just over seven million.
NSW Farmers’ President Derek Schoen say the association is calling on the NSW Government to be proactive in managing kangaroo numbers to maintain the population at sustainable levels.
“The state sets quotas for culling, currently this is set at 15 per cent of the population, or 2.2 million in NSW for 2018. However, these quotes are drastically under fulfilled.
“In 2017, commercial take was just over 10 per cent of the quota. We congratulate the NSW Government for recently lifting the cap on commercial licence holders, and we are hopeful that this change will increase commercial take.
“However, more needs to be done.
“Our members are telling us that they see more kangaroos than livestock when they look out at their paddocks each morning.
“It’s also distressing to see kangaroos dying in large numbers due to a lack of feed and water.”
