Due to the shortened time frame within which to conduct the cull after the Panel’s intervention on behalf of Australian Society for Kangaroos in the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal ( see post of 13 July 2012), some 100 fewer eastern grey kangaroos were shot then permitted by the Tribunal’s decision on 10 July 2013. Added to the 211 fewer kangaroos permitted to be shot by the Tribunal’s decision (than the target announced originally by the ACT government) some 300 lives were thus saved. The seven reserves in question re-opened today. The ACT government’s responsible Minister, Greens MP Shane Rattenbury, was reported yesterday as saying options such as fertility control and translocation are now being investigated.

Apart from more rigorous science, the Panel’s view is that fertility control and translocation (in regular recurring small numbers over an extended period) are the only options.

The Panel will now consider asking to meet with the Minister about adoption of these options. Certainly, the Panel will likely intervene again legally next year in the event the ACT government announces another cull.