Kangaroos are to be shot and used for pet food in a bid to limit the out-of-control population in Australia.
The Victorian Government is allowing accredited shooters to hunt and process the marsupials to help control numbers.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the Kangaroo Harvesting Program [sic] replaces a five-year trial, which saw more than 100,000 of the marsupials shot and 30,000 culled and processed into food.
Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes said: “The programme balances the need to keep kangaroo populations at healthy levels and ensure farmers aren’t being overrun by roos, who can eat crops, damage property and compete with stock for feed and water.”
Seven ‘harvest zones’ have been designated for areas with significant numbers of kangaroos. Quotas on how many kangaroos can be hunted will be updated annually depending on wildlife numbers and to sustain the ‘ideal’ population numbers.
A special tag system will be put in place to monitor the number of kangaroos shot.
