Herbivore management for biodiversity conservation: A case study of kangaroos in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

Abstract

Populations of macropods are higher than estimated pre-European densities in many parts of Australia. To achieve appropriate densities of macropods in the Australian Capital Territory's nature reserves, multi-tenure kangaroo management units are used to tailor management of kangaroos and total grazing pressure to achieve conservation objectives. An adaptive management framework is recommended that monitors the state of the ground-layer vegetation and alters the cull accordingly. This case study may provide insights for kangaroo management in other temperate areas of Australia.