Kangaroo management options IN THE MURRAY -DARLING BASIN

Abstract

Foreword........................ i List of figures & tables ........................iii Acknowledgments........................ iv Background ........................1 Defining stakeholder aspirations........................ 2 Pastoralists ........................2 Non-government conservationists ........................2 Kangaroo industry........................ 3 Government wildlife management agencies........................ 3 Defining and evaluating management strategies ........................4 Data collection ........................6 The animals ........................6 Field sites ........................6 Field data collection procedures ........................6 Summary of field data........................ 13 Key biological relationships........................ 13 Population and harvest data ........................15 Model development ........................23 The temporal model ........................23 The spatial model........................ 23 The genetic model ........................28 Multi-criteria decision analysis ........................31 Results and discussion ........................32 Comparing management options with stakeholder objectives ........................32 Strategies for long-term average population densities ........................37 Results for eastern and western grey kangaroos........................ 39 Implications of long-term average population densities for resource sustainability and pastoral production........................ 39 Effects of climate change ........................41 Outcomes of the spatial analysis – property and regional scales........................ 41 Outcomes of the genetic analysis ........................47 Are harvest refuges required? ........................49 Conclusions ........................51 Recommendations........................54 References ........................55 Appendix 1 ........................57 Appendix 2 ........................58