As the urban growth boundary is extended and development marches northwards, native kangaroos are left with nowhere to go. With landowners and the DSE supporting culls and wildlife advocates pleading for protection, everyone agrees something must be done. Michael Quin investigates.The morning sun is casting long shadows through the grass: silhouettes of red gums, fence posts and an old, rusty barrel. A flock of cockatoos pecks at the ground, the smell of eucalyptus hangs in the air, and a solitary kangaroo is sunning itself.
It could be the middle of nowhere, but it’s Plenty Valley town centre – wedged between a shopping centre and South Morang’s two busiest roads – and until recently a whole mob of kangaroos lived here.
Five years ago wildlife volunteers counted 65 eastern greys here; last year, after many were hit by cars or attacked by dogs, just 25 remained. Then in January the Department of Sustainability and Environment hired professional gunmen to finish off the rest.
The department said the kangaroos, stranded on their island of habitat, would have starved or been hit by cars and it was more humane to shoot them.
Residents protested on the steps of Parliament against the secretive cull, and wildlife rescuers claimed plans to transfer the mob somewhere else had been purposefully foiled. Neither side seemed pleased with how the event played out, yet one kilometre north of the site it may already be happening again.
In a patch of undeveloped land at Hillcroft Estate, South Morang, a dozen or more eastern greys are lazing about beneath power lines, between two advancing rows of houses. One of the smaller ones is playing with a plastic bag, while another hobbles around on a broken leg, the flesh and bone exposed.
Wildlife Rescuers volunteer Laurelle Erwin says it was most likely a car. ‘‘We’re getting called out once or twice a day to kangaroos that have been hit by cars, especially along Plenty Road between McDonalds Road and Bridge Inn Road,’’ Erwin says. ‘‘Broken legs are the most common injuries.’’ Some are killed outright, but a large percentage, like this one, are left injured. The sheer volume of kangaroos being injured is overwhelming, and Erwin says if Wildlife Rescuers don’t tend to them, no one will.
More traffic signs warning about kangaroos would help, Erwin says, as would drivers paying more attention to their peripheral vision. But in the longer term Erwin says a change is needed in the way wildlife is factored into development.
‘‘If you look into areas being developed, there are no management plans in place to deal with wildlife,’’ she says. ‘‘Often species are identified on the development site but because most are common species, like kangaroos and wombats, there is no requirement under current planning legislation to ensure these animals are protected.’’
Whittlesea Council acting sustainability planning manager Felicity Leahy says the council is busy advocating for changes to state government policy and planning provisions. She says council officers are pushing for the impact on wildlife to be addressed in all future planning permit applications. The council has also joined a working group that includes the DSE and conservationists, which has recommended reduced traffic speeds and community education about the presence of kangaroos.
But wildlife carers want authorities to go further by conserving more native habitat and, where kangaroos are causing problems, looking at sterilisation or relocation options. Erwin says this plea is falling on deaf ears.
‘‘Repeated attempts to have meetings with DSE in relation to development areas and misplaced wildlife result in the DSE not wishing to explore options,’’ she says. ‘‘They are misleading the public to believe they cannot be done, or not done successfully.’’
DSE spokesman Nick Talbot says there is a policy of not relocating common species because it is stressful to the animal, and expensive.
“Finding suitable habitat to relocate kangaroos to is also a challenge,” Talbot says.
Whittlesea farmer Graeme Hunter agrees moving kangaroos is unfeasible and sees more culling as the best way forward. He says local kangaroo populations have exploded in the past 10 to 15 years.
‘‘I remember as a kid growing up here 50 years ago, if someone saw a kangaroo on the way to school they’d tell everyone because it was a big deal and might only happen once a year,’’ Hunter says.
Now, standing on a hill at his Whittlesea property, Hunter can point to spots in every direction where mobs of 50 or 60 kangaroos regularly gather.
‘‘What gets me is the hours I spend fixing electric fences because the kangaroos short them out,’’ he says. ‘‘It can take an hour just chasing a fault in the fence, and that might happen once a week.’’
Hunter is also concerned about kangaroos on the roads, and a quick look over his Land Cruiser reveals a broken mud guard and a collection of dents all attributed to kangaroos. ‘‘Once, I hit two kangaroos within 20 minutes along Grants Road,’’ he says. ‘‘I’d only just got going again after the first one and another one jumped right into the side of my ute.’’
Like most landholders in the area, Hunter says he doesn’t have the time or money for kangaroo fences or high-powered rifles, but sees it as a government responsibility to bring the population under control. ‘‘I’m not saying we should have no kangaroos here at all, but the DSE need to take charge of the situation and cull them,’’ he says. ‘‘Sure we might have to kill a couple of hundred, but it will be a couple of thousand before long if we don’t do it soon.’’
DSE spokesman Nick Talbot could not confirm whether kangaroo populations had increased or decreased in the northern suburbs, only that ‘‘kangaroos move into an area in response to conditions’’.
Further south on the city’s fringe, estates promoting a slice of country life continue their march.
Erwin’s Wildlife Rescuers colleague Narelle Smith says it disturbs her each time she sees advertisements encouraging people to come and live in natural settings with local wildlife, because that is not the future these areas have.
‘‘These advertisements fail to mention how much habitat is destroyed to make way for your new house or the new shopping centre,’’ Smith says.
With the city’s expanded urban growth boundary now set to take suburbia as far north as Beveridge, this is an issue the community will continue to confront.
Smith says those uncomfortable with how it’s being managed need to start asking developers, councils and the DSE what they are doing to protect wildlife and habitat – otherwise the South Morang saga will be repeated again and again.
¦ If you see an injured animal, call Wildlife Rescuers on 0417 506 941
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