Kangaroo monitoring in relation to kangaroo management in New South Wales

Annual commercial cull quotas for kangaroos are based on population estimates derived for each of the 11 kangaroo management zones in New South Wales. The kangaroo population estimates are principally obtained through direct monitoring of these species by aerial surveys using helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Where mountainous or heavily wooded areas prevent aerial surveys, walked line transects are conducted. Experimental aerial surveys, conducted over three years from winter of 1998, aim to develop a new set of regional habitat correction factors to be applied to the results obtained from fixed-wing aerial surveys. The currently used 200 m wide survey strip will be compared to a new 100 m wide survey strip as a part of this work. Since it is anticipated that this research will improve the fixed-wing aerial survey method, its outcomes will be adopted in the New South Wales aerial survey programme.