The Spatial Distributions of Sympatric Populations of Kangaroos and Sheep - Examples of Dissociation Between These Species

Abstract

We present three sets of data, based on dung counts, which show that western grey and red kangaroos tended to dissociate from sheep in arid zone paddocks when the opportunity permitted. In two cases, the abundance of kangaroo dung within sheep-proof enclosures was much greater than that outside. In the third, kangaroos were consistently more abundant in those parts of the paddock not frequented by the sheep. This dissociation may be related to the relative attractiveness to the kangaroos of the pasture which has remained ungrazed by sheep, rather than to antagonism between the two species.