Did you know it’s World Kangaroo Day this Sunday? The perfect time for kangaroo and wallaby spotting in your favourite park.

Around Albury Wodonga, you might commonly see Eastern Grey kangaroos, and if you’re lucky, the shy Swamp wallaby. Both are common to Eastern Australia, but neither are as common as they once were.

You may have noticed an increase in kangaroos in the bush parks where farm livestock have been removed.  That’s because the competition for grass has been reduced. 

Large populations of kangaroos are a vexed issue in farming areas, and sometimes permits are granted for landholders to cull their numbers. Counting kangaroos is a real challenge as the move around the landscape.  Counters apply an average across the landscape when calculating kangaroo cull permits. 

Kangaroos, being intelligent marsupials, are not spread uniformly across the landscape but tend to congregate more on public land, where the native vegetation is more suitable for them, they are less disturbed, and culling is much more limited. 

Have you noticed that kangaroos are getting more used to people being active in our hills?  They no longer jump away at first sight.  Please be wary of old and frail kangaroos, which are often large old males that have been deposed as leader and live apart from the mob.  If you get too close they can and do attack, and are still very powerful animals!

If you have ever been to the western country and central Australia, you may have seen the much larger Red kangaroo. Have a listen to this great song Parra Waripa by Jida Gulpilil and David Bridie, celebrating the Red Kangaroo.