• Kangaroo pet food trial to be widened
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The number of Eastern Grey kangaroos allowed to be killed in Victoria has more than doubled in the two years the government has permitted the commercial processing of kangaroo meat.

In 2013, 1680 permits were issued which allowed 65,579 kangaroos to be killed. In 2015 these numbers surged to 2926 permits and 169,488 Eastern Greys.

The former government approved a trial for the processing of culled kangaroo meat for pet food in 2014 and the current government has extended the trial until March 2018 with more than a dozen council areas involved.

A spokesman from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning said the trial "does not aim to increase the number of kangaroos controlled" and does not change the requirement for a landholder applying for a permit to first demonstrate that kangaroos are causing damage to their property.

He said kangaroo numbers vary depending on food availability and seasonal conditions.

Environment Minister Lisa Neville said there is no link between the number of permits issued and the number of kangaroos processed for pet food, and the figures demonstrated that.

Last month she said the trial had not led to more kangaroos being killed and the trial was operating under "very, very strict conditions".

The number of kangaroos killed can differ from the number of permits issued and the number of kangaroos used in the pet food trial.

Ms Neville said 135,000 kangaroos were destroyed under the permit system last year and about 21,000 of those were used in the pet food trial. 

RSPCA Victoria chief executive Dr Liz Walker said any "increase in the rate of permits being issued is concerning because it reflects a lack of adequate management strategies".

"We advocate strongly for long-term, kangaroo management plans that reduce the need for culling to occur.

"The need to cull demonstrates that there may be either no considered management in place, or that the management strategy in place may not be working effectively," she said.

She said any measures taken to reduce kangaroo populations "must be conducted humanely and be under the direct supervision of the appropriate government authorities" and these programs should be monitored and audited.

The department spokesman said the kangaroo pet food trial had been extended "to test its sustainability over a longer period, in an expanded geographic area, and with changing kangaroo numbers".

"Decisions around wildlife management for common species like kangaroos are made at a regional level and are based around local knowledge of the wildlife populations, and site inspections to assess if wildlife is damaging crops, buildings, infrastructure, the natural environment, or threatening human safety," he said.

The aim of the system, he said, was to "strike a balance between the conservation of native wildlife, the needs of landholders, and the protection of human health and safety".

The spokesman said the the pattern of increasing permits for the control of kangaroos in Victoria over the past few years was consistent with the broader fluctuations of kangaroo numbers in other states.

He said the trial had helped reduce waste by processing kangaroos that have been killed.