Why did the kangaroo cross the road? Honestly, no one knows. Photo: Glynis Quinlan.
More kangaroos have been culled this year in the ACT than in the past four culls – at the same time as more animals have been hit by vehicles than in the past six years.
The 2025 conservation cull ran from 10 June to 31 July across 16 nature reserves, with 2978 kangaroos targeted – the largest since 2019 when 4035 were culled.
A further 18 female kangaroos were treated with the contraceptive vaccine GonaCon in four reserves this year. As this is ongoing in the Red Hill Nature Reserve, this number is expected to be higher by the end of August.
Meanwhile, 1232 kangaroos were culled and 74 sterilised across eight reserves in 2024, 1041 culled and 59 sterilised in 2023 in six reserves, and 1645 culled and 59 sterilised in 2022 in nine reserves.
A total of 2978 Easter Grey Kangaroos were cull this season, and a further 18 sterilised so far. Photo: ACT Government.
The ACT Government says each year’s target numbers are selected by “qualified ecologists to protect the ACT’s natural temperate grasslands and grassy woodlands from overgrazing”.
“Kangaroos and their grassy habitat are assessed at each priority reserve every year to inform the management program,” a spokesperson told Region.
“This annual data collection, alongside a thorough understanding of how quickly kangaroo populations grow, allows ecologists to calculate the number of kangaroos to cull in any given year.
“These careful calculations ensure both kangaroos and the smaller grassland species will continue to thrive long into the future.”
The government says this year’s larger number was due to the amount of rainfall over 2024 being “less than in the previous three years and a little below the long-term average”.
“Based on this season’s vegetation monitoring findings, sustainable target kangaroo densities are substantially reduced across some sites compared to last year.”
Despite the higher number culled, more kangaroos are tempting fate by moving closer to the ACT’s roads.
ACT Parks and Conservation received the most call-outs for animal-vehicle collisions during the 2024-25 financial year since 2018.
Rangers attended a total of 4464 incidents between July 2024 and June 2025, compared to 3864 over the same period in 2023-24.
Calendar-year data puts the call-out numbers at 4217 for 2024, 4064 for 2023, 1998 in 2022, 1421 in 2021, 1917 in 2020, 3819 in 2019, and jumping up to 4467 in 2018.
“Kangaroos are likely to roam further to look for food in drier conditions, including near roadsides, as road drainage from rain promotes extra grass growth,” the spokesperson said.
Winter doesn’t help either, with the data noting an increase in collisions due to “higher traffic numbers coinciding with animal movements at dawn and dusk, low light conditions”.
Planning is already underway for next year’s cull, with ecologists assessing grass height and kangaroo counts across the ACT’s nature reserves over spring and summer.
“The conservation cull, which has been delivered in the ACT since 2009, is a well-established and scientifically proven land management program that works alongside prescribed burning, and invasive plant and animal control,” the government adds.
Motorists are advised to call Access Canberra on 13 22 81 if they spot an injured kangaroo and “a ranger will attend as soon as possible”.
