Eastern Gray Kangaroo Management Plan

The Macropus giganteus, otherwise known as the Eastern Gray Kangaroo, the Giant Gray Kangaroo, or the Tasmanian Forester, is found in the eastern parts of Australia and in Tasmania. A management plan for this species can prove to be difficult, as one has to take in to account the fact that having high kangaroo populations may have undesirable influences on ecological processes in response to habitat destruction or other environmental change that may pose a threat to biological diversity or other environmental values.

Nonetheless, in this plan, I shall try to cover any concerns in an effort to show how to further benefit the Macropus giganteus.

My first concern is the kangaroo’s habitat. Kangaroos can survive in very dense packs, called mobs, as has been shown by studies recording as many as 357 kangaroos per square kilometer living in a single nature reserve. However, they prefer to have more land available to them for grazing, as they feed primarily on shrubs and grasses that grow in the open fields. To address this, I would propose a solution that has proven effective in raising the populations in the past; deforestation.

Kangaroos do not utilize the densely wooded areas in any way that would make them beneficial to keep. They have been known to live in the open woodlands, though. When heavily wooded areas are thinned or completely destroyed, this provides more grazing area for the kangaroo, allowing for a higher population carrying capacity. However, it must be stressed that some shade trees must be kept, as the kangaroos like to rest under them to cool off from the intense Australian sun.

Another major concern is the killing of the kangaroo population by farmers. Farmers hunt the kangaroos because they feel that the kangaroo grazes on too much of its land, therefore being detrimental to the farm. A simple solution to this that benefits the kangaroo is to simply buy out the farms and convert the farmland into grasslands that the kangaroos can graze in freely. The farmer benefits from the buyout, and the kangaroo population can continue to increase.

Another problem the Gray Kangaroo faces is being struck by cars. Roads often cut through the bush lands in Australian, often without any king of fence or barrier to keep wildlife from wandering onto the highway and being killed. Thousands of kangaroos are killed each year because of this. One solution is to fence off the highways that cut through kangaroo habitat.