Calls to halt kangaroo culling in Victoria’s Grampians after bushfires

New quotas allow the cull of more than 106,000 grey kangaroos annually in Victoria but wildlife advocates have called for a temporary ban after the Grampians fires. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Wildlife advocates are calling for a halt to the commercial harvesting of kangaroos in Victoria’s Grampians region after bushfires there.

Wildlife Victoria warned of “long-term impacts” on native plants and animals due to the fires, which burned through 76,000 hectares of national park and farmland, and called for a stop to the controversial practice until the impact on kangaroo populations could be fully assessed.