Victoria has signed off on a plan to up the number of kangaroos legally slaughtered in the state by a third, in a move criticised by animal welfare advocates.
The renamed Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action has released a report on the state's commercial Kangaroo Harvesting Program and Authority to Control Wildlife permit scheme.
It recommends grey kangaroos culled for harvesting of their meat increase to 166,730 for 2023, up 30 per cent from 127,850 last year.
The number of permits handed out to Victorian landholders to shoot roos on their property is set to rise by 19 per cent to 69,600.
In total, the overall quota of kangaroos to be legally culled has increased by 27 per cent - from 185,850 in 2022 to 236,350 in 2023.
The increased quota was derived from aerial surveys in September and October last year within the state's seven kangaroo harvest zones.
From those, the statewide grey kangaroo population was estimated at 2,363,850, with the recommended cull target set at 10 per cent of the total.
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"The abundance of grey kangaroos within the non-forested parts of Victoria has increased by approximately 24 per cent compared with that reported from the 2020 aerial survey, with notable increases in the point estimates evident in five of the seven harvest zones," the report said.
"This increase has been most likely due to the mild and moderately wet conditions experienced in Victoria over the last two years.
"The increase in the population of grey kangaroos has resulted in an increase in the total allowable take of kangaroos."
Newly elected Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell said kangaroos have suffered from natural disasters such as flooding over the past 12 months.
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"It is completely remiss of the Victorian government to accept a population report that does not include this at all," she said.
"We don't know how many kangaroos have been lost in unprecedented flooding across Victoria, and yet the government has approved a 27 per cent increase."
She is calling on the Andrews government to implement and monitor exclusion zones around wildlife shelters.
"It is wildlife rescuers, who are mostly volunteers, who are left to clean up the mess from this barbaric Victorian government-approved shooting," Ms Purcell said.
Senior minister Ben Carroll said the latest recommendation was made to government on the basis of independent advice, despite the aerial surveys taking place before record floods hit the state.
"We do not like to see any form of animal cruelty," he told reporters on Thursday.
"That's why it's done under the strictest measures and ensures that our kangaroos are in a proportion of population that is sustainable."
The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, previously known as the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, have been contacted for comment.
Australian Associated Press
