When a kangaroo is shot but not “rendered immediately insensible”, the ACT Government calls this as ‘wounding’. Wounded kangaroos are left with painful injuries until killed by a second shot, blunt force trauma to the head, or – most disturbingly – they are never found at all, and are left to endure prolonged pain.

Independent veterinary audits confirm that wounding is a recurring outcome of the ACT Government’s shooting program. Document wounding rates during audits include:

• 2.1% in 2015
• 3.4% in 2017
• 3.5% in 2023

• Shot in the shoulder, requiring a second shot to the chest (2015)
• Shot in the eye socket, killed only after a second shot to the chest (2015)
• Shot in the chest, taking 5 seconds to die (2015)
• Left alive but immobile, then killed with blunt force trauma (six individuals, 2017)
• Shot in the jaw, requiring a second shot to the head (2017)
• Shot in the jaw, requiring a second shot to the chest (two individuals, 2017)
• Three individuals shot in the jaw or neck, suffering for 28, 48 and 49 seconds respectively before death (2023).

Duration of suffering

In 2017, the median time to death for wounded kangaroos was one minute. One individual suffered for five minutes. At least five kangaroos endured between one and five minutes of pain, from injuries as severe as shots to the jaw.

Kangaroos who espace wounded

Some kangaroos are shot and injured but escape before they can be killed. This occurred in both 2017 and 2023. The suffering these animals endure is unknown, but jaw injuries – which are documented in the audit data – can lead to prolonged pain, inability to eat or drink, and eventual death from starvation or dehydration. 

Kangaroos “presumed killed” but never found

Audits also documented cases where kangaroos were shot and “presumed killed” but could not be located:

• 2015: Five kangaroos were shot and presumed dead but not found. 
• 2017: One kangaroo was shot and killed by not located for two hours.

The ACT Government claims that its fixed “culling season” avoids orphaning by targeting a period when dependent young are supposedly less vulnerable. They define this high-risk age range as 8-12 months – but this range has no scientific basis.

In reality, kangaroos remain dependent on their mothers until around 18 months. They spend roughly 12 months in the pouch, and then another six months as young-at-foot before weaning. At best, the joeys left behind are slightly older – but they are still dependent.

The evidence shows that orphaning is routine and unavoidable under the ACT Government’s shooting program.  

Audit evidence or orphaning

Independent veterinary audits confirm that dependent young are present during culls:

• 2013: There was a mismatch between lactating females shot and the number of sub-adults killed, and the audit report described that “young at foot not being shot with their dams and escaping is the most likely reason for this disparity” and called it “an area of animal welfare compromise.”
• 2015: 17 sub-adults (5% of observed killings) were shot. 7% of the mother kangaroos who were shot who had pouch young were observed to also have a second elongated mammary gland. The report said that “it is likely they were, or had recently been, suckling a young-at-foot.” This indicates that there may have been young-at-foot left orphaned. 
• 2017: 93 sub-adults (29% of observed killings) were shot, showing many dependent young were present during this season. 
• 2023: 11 sub-adults (8% of observed killings) were shot. A furred pouch joey escaped from the pouch of a shot mother before the shooters were able to capture and kill them. 

Furred joeys are common during culls

The ACT Government argues that most pouch young encountered during the ‘culling season’ are unfurred and therefore (they incorrectly claim) not sentient. This claim is scientifically unsupported – and the audits show that many joeys are furred, making them highly vulnerable to orphaning:

• 14% of pouch young were furred during the audit in 2015
• 24% in 2017
• 33% in 2023

Furred joeys are typically in the “in and out of the pouch” stage – exactly the age most likely to be left behind when their mothers are shot.

Research by the RSPCA Australia (2002) revealed that shooters found in some instances that they don’t see young-at-foot or they flee before they can be killed. McLeod & Sharp (2014) noted that young-at-foot “can be difficult to kill because of the safety issues associated with shooting at close range.”

Only one of the veterinary audits conducted thorough post-mortem examinations of shot kangaroos. This was the 2013 audit, and the results were deeply troubling – it is not surprising that the government opted not to include this in subsequent audits (2015, 2017, 2023). 

2013: joeys found alive in their dead mothers’ pouches

During the 2013 audit, three furless pouch young were found alive, still attached to their dead mothers’ teats. The report noted that shooters had checked the pouches in the field, but in all three cases the females had two active mammary glands, so the shooters appear to have assumed that an enlarged teat meant a young-at-foot was present, and therefore did not check the second teat for a pouch joey.

If the veterinarian had not been present to re-check the pouches, these joeys would have been buried alive with their mothers’ bodies. 

Post-mortems never conducted again

All later audits (2015, 2017, 2023) reported that no pouch young were missed – but none of them conducted the same detailed post-mortem examinations that revealed the failures in 2013. Given the seriousness of the 2013 findings, it is reasonable to assume that shooters were more cautious while being observed in these future audits. Therefore, the true scale of this issue outside of audit conditions cannot be known.

Under the National Code of Practice, pouch young of shot mothers must be killed by a single forceful blow to the base of the skull. In practice, however, the method is inconsistently applied, poorly documented, and often lacks the required welfare checks.

2013 audit

• All pouch young were killed by blunt force trauma, but the audit did not specify the method used.
• To confirm death, shooters only checked that the joeys were “not moving not breathing”. 
• They did not check for a heartbeat or corneal reflex, as required by the Code. 
• The auditor noted this as a welfare concern.

2015 audit

• Pouch young were killed by swinging their heads against metal parts of the shooting vehicle. 
• An average of 2.8 blows was used (range: 1-7).
• The report referenced research recommending that improved blunt trauma methods be explored. 

2017 audit

• The method used was not described.
• The report simply stated that pouch young were euthanised via blunt trauma.
• “Some staff used a solid wooden board underneath the pouch young while delivering blunt trauma” – which seems to suggest that, rather than swinging the joey to hit their head on a solid surface, the joeys were now being killed by hitting them on a head be a mallet or similar.

2023 audit

• Again, the report only stated that pouch young were killed via blunt trauma, with no detail on method or number of blows. 

Lack of welfare checks

The 2015, 2017, and 2023 audits do not state whether shooters checked for a heartbeat or corneal reflex after killing joeys. They simply note that shooters “checked to confirm death,” without specifying how. 

Use of wooden mallets

In 2022, an ACT Government representative confirmed that wooden mallets were being used to kill joeys. 

Why this matters

The ACT Government is clearly aware that the killing of joeys is one of the most publicly unacceptable aspects of the cull. The vague, inconsistent reporting across audits – and the increasingly absent detail about the exact methods used – raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability.