ACT government sends $80k of kangaroo meat to tip after annual cull

Despite the ACT government's commitment to reducing waste it has failed to find an alternative, after more than 11 years of running the cull.

The kangaroo cull is conducted annually to reduce pressure on the ecosystem and balance the threat of overgrazing. From May 7 to July 27 this year, 4035 kangaroos were shot under the cover of darkness in nature parks across Canberra.

An ACT government spokesman said the meat is disposed of at the tip because the site is secure and fit for purpose.

An undisclosed but likely small amount is processed into baits for wild dog and fox control.

"The ACT government is open to alternative methods of kangaroo carcass disposal," the spokesman said.

But commercial harvesting - which could potentially put money back into the government's coffers - "is not consistent" with the goal of population management, the spokesman said.

He said in 1997 and in 2011 the government reviewed two options. The first was the NSW system of commercial harvesting and whether the ACT could integrate into that. The second was the feasibility of processing the animals for pet meat or for human consumption within the ACT.

"In both instances it was found that significant investment by the ACT government would be required to use kangaroo meat from the cull to overcome economic, operational and legislative barriers," the spokesman said.

"Some of these barriers include a lack of local ACT industry to process meat, relevant ACT legislation to ensure food safety standards and legislation and regulation to comply with industry standards. The investment required is significant would not likely result in a return on investment."

Dr George Wilson, an expert in wildlife management, conservation and biodiversity at the Fenner School of Environment at the Australian National University, said the management of kangaroo carcasses doesn't make much sense.

"The ACT is completely surrounded by a zone in which kangaroos can be purchased from licence professional shooters," Dr Wilson said. He said carcasses are worth about 85 cents per kilogram, meaning the government could have sold the 4035 shot for just short of $80,000. Not only did he see it as "a waste morally to send them to landfill", but he said the money could have offset the cost of the operation.

Parks and Conservation Service acting executive branch manager Justin Foley said on Friday it would be difficult to find a butcher to harvest the animals.

"The question is has that butcher actually got somewhere to do that in the ACT, is there actually a business set up to do that. I think the answer is no," Mr Foley said.

"It would have to be a pop-up butchering process. We have explored that opportunity but we haven't been able to find, at this point, someone who is able to take the volume that we cull."

Australian National University Professor of Ecology Dr David Lindenmayer said the ACT needs to do something.

"If we can put man on the moon surely we can work out a structure to be able to deal with this and use that meat," Dr Lindenmayer said.

He said Australia needed to harvest more kangaroo for human consumption.

"It's a fantastic meat, I cook with it regularly," he said.

The ACT's "war on waste" has three main principles; to reduce the amount of waste generated, to maximise recycling and reuse, and to minimise the amount sent to landfill.

In the ACT Waste Feasibility Study, released in May last year, then-City Services minister Meegan Fitzharris declared the "aspiration target of 90 per cent of waste being diverted from landfill by 2025".

The strategy makes no mention of the disposal of kangaroo carcasses.