The Effect of Short-Term Exclosure of Watering Points on the Behaviour and Harvesting Efficiency of Grey and Red Kangaroos.

Abstract

The selective exclusion of kangaroos from water points installed for livestock may facilitate the control of the total grazing pressure by herbivores on pastoral leases. In observations at seven different study sites, we found that low lying electrified wires surrounding watering points (e.g. Finlayson troughs) are largely effective in selectively excluding red kangaroos and the two species of grey kangaroo from water. Some sheep will experience shocks when exposed to the wire, but no unmanageable effects were observed. However, the devices are considered unsuitable for use with cattle which quickly damage the installations Such devices produced significant local concentrations of kangaroos during two of the seven replications when pre-exclosure minimum temperatures were above 19260C and maxima above 3 1260C. Shooter experience indicated the potential exists to increase harvesting efficiency of kangaroos concentrated at electrically exclosed uaters, but we were unable to show this statistically. Key words: kangaroos, water exclosure, behaviour, harvesting efficiiency