Status and Management of the Forester Kangaroo in Tasmania 2000 -- ~~ --.. ~-- Zoe Tanner and Greg Hocking Status and Management of the Forester Kangaroo in Tasmania 2000 Zoë Tanner and Greg Hocking STATUS AND MANAGEMENT OF THE FORESTER KANGAROO IN TASMANIA, 2000 Zoë Tanner and Greg Hocking NATURE CONSERVATION REPORT 2001/02 Status and Management of the Forester Kangaroo in Tasmania 2000 Zoë Tanner and Greg Hocking 2001 The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment. ISSN 1441-0680 Published by the Nature Conservation Branch, Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment GPO Box 44a Hobart 7000 Copyright©2001 Crown in right of State of Tasmania Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any means without written permission. Cover Illustration: Forester kangaroo (Macropus giganteus tasmaniensis) reclining on grass (Geoff Lennox). Cite as: Tanner, Z. and Hocking, G.J. (2001). Status and Management of the Forester Kangaroo in Tasmania, 2000. Nature Conservation Report 2001/02. Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment. Status and management of the forester kangaroo in Tasmania CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................. 1 2 HISTORY ........................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Distribution and habitat prior to European settlement............................................................... 2 2.2 Impact of European settlement...................................................................................................... 2 3 HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT ...................................................................... 4 3.1 Legal protection............................................................................................................................... 4 3.2 Control of poisons............................................................................................................................ 4 3.3 Enforcement activities..................................................................................................................... 4 3.4 Establishment of Mt William National Park ................................................................................ 4 3.5 Management of population increase.............................................................................................. 5 Trap and release program........................................................................................................6 Introduction of a culling program...........................................................................................7 Monitoring ..............................................................................................................................7 4 THE CURRENT PROBLEM ........................................................................... 8 4.1 Impact of forester kangaroos on agriculture................................................................................ 8 4.2 Impact of agriculture on forester kangaroos................................................................................ 8 5 LANDOWNER INFORMATION AND OPINIONS ..................................... 9 5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 9 5.2 Methods............................................................................................................................................ 9 5.3 Results and Discussion.................................................................................................................... 9 Estimating the forester kangaroo range ..................................................................................9 Perceptions of population trends...........................................................................................10 Impact of forester kangaroos on farms within their range....................................................10 Landowner comments on management and conservation of forester kangaroos in the future ...............................................................................................................................................10 5.4 Relationship between landowners and the DPIWE ................................................................... 11 Status and management of the forester kangaroo in Tasmania 6 THE FIELD SURVEY .................................................................................... 13 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 13 6.2 Methods.......................................................................................................................................... 13 6.3 Transect locations.......................................................................................................................... 14 6.4 Analysis .......................................................................................................................................... 16 6.5 Results ............................................................................................................................................ 17 Population Trends .................................................................................................................21 Culling levels ........................................................................................................................21 Population Trends versus Culling Levels and Rainfall.........................................................22 6.6 Discussion....................................................................................................................................... 23 Population Densities .............................................................................................................23 Population Trends .................................................................................................................23 Influences on Population Trends ..........................................................................................23 6.7 Summary......................................................................................................................................... 24 7 THREE HUMMOCK ISLAND AND RELATED ISSUES......................... 25 7.1 Background.................................................................................................................................... 25 Forester kangaroos on Three Hummock Island....................................................................25 The situation at Maria Island ................................................................................................25 7.2 Methods.......................................................................................................................................... 26 7.3 Results ............................................................................................................................................ 26 Number of kangaroos............................................................................................................26 Weather conditions ...............................................................................................................26 7.4 Discussion....................................................................................................................................... 27 8 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT OF FORESTER KANGAROOS IN TASMANIA ......................................................................... 29 8.1 Monitoring program ..................................................................................................................... 29 8.2 Culling program ............................................................................................................................ 29 8.3 Management in the Midlands....................................................................................................... 30 8.4 Management in the Northeast...................................................................................................... 30 8.5 Three Hummock Island................................................................................................................ 31 8.6 Looking to the future .................................................................................................................... 31 Status and management of the forester kangaroo in Tasmania 9.1 Monitoring ..................................................................................................................................... 32 9.2 Culling program ............................................................................................................................ 32 9.3 Mt William National Park and Northeast................................................................................... 32 9.4 Three Hummock Island................................................................................................................ 33 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................. 34 11 REFERENCES...............................................................................................