Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of Three Kangaroos From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AB88

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of Three

Kangaroos From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

[[Page 12888]] ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has determined

that three common species of kangaroos, the red kangaroo, the western

gray kangaroo, and populations of the eastern gray kangaroo in mainland

Australia, should be removed from the list of threatened species under

the Endangered Species Act (Act or ESA). The Service also announces

that it is denying a December 20, 1989, petition to reimpose a ban on

the commercial importation of products from these three species of

kangaroos from mainland Australia on procedural grounds. The Service,

with this rule, also rescinds the existing special rule applicable to

threatened kangaroo populations.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 10, 1995.

ADDRESSES: The complete file for the rule is available for public

inspection by appointment, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in Room 750, 4401

North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22203.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Charles W. Dane, Office of

Scientific Authority, at the above address, or by phone (703-358-1708)

or by fax (703-358-2276).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The term ``kangaroo'' in this rule refers to all populations of the

red kangaroo (Macropus rufus), the western gray kangaroo (M.

fuliginosus), and the eastern gray kangaroo (M. giganteus) in mainland

Australia, which are being removed from the list of endangered and

threatened wildlife (50 CFR 17.11) under Act (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544). The

subspecies of the eastern gray kangaroo (M. g. tasmaniensis), which

occurs solely in Tasmania retains its endangered classification under

the Act. The red kangaroo, western gray kangaroo, and the eastern gray

kangaroo in mainland Australia were listed on December 30, 1974 (39 FR

44990), as threatened species pursuant to the Act and the commercial

importation of kangaroos, their parts, and products was banned. A

special rule to allow such importations into the United States after

development of adequate State management plans accompanied the listing.

The Service accepted the management programs for four Australian States

and lifted the importation ban on April 29, 1981 (46 FR 23929), after

kangaroo management plans and population survey techniques had been

strengthened. The Service, in two Federal Register notices of April 8,

1983, proposed to delist the three species of kangaroos (48 FR 15428)

and to continue the commercial importation of kangaroos (48 FR 15434).

The final rule allowing the continuation of the importation of

kangaroos was published on August 1, 1983 (48 FR 34757). The Service

withdrew the proposed rule to delist the three kangaroo species on

April 24, 1984 (49 FR 17555), after receiving new data from the

Australian Government that the severe drought in the summer of 1982-3

had caused significant reductions in kangaroo populations. It was noted

that the drought was broken in winter 1983, that kangaroos were again

beginning to breed, but the ability of kangaroo populations to recover

from the major 1982-3 population fluctuation was unknown. It was

further noted that the delisting action could be reconsidered after the

Service had a better understanding of how kangaroo populations recover

from drought events.

The Service was petitioned on December 20, 1989, by Greenpeace USA,

with subsequent support from other groups, ``to reinstate the ban on

commercial importation of kangaroos and of kangaroo products.'' The

petitioners contended that Australia's management of kangaroos was

inherently flawed and that Australian States did not have adequate and

effective conservation programs that ensured the protection of the

threatened species. The Service, in order to respond to the December

20, 1989, petition in a meaningful manner, sent three representatives

to Australia in March 1990 to investigate the population status of the

three kangaroo species (survey methods, numbers, and trends) and the

implementation of management programs. In addition, the team received

comments about the conservation benefit of management plans that

allowed the harvest of kangaroos. The Service team spent 12 days

meeting with selected members of Parliament, representatives of various

nongovernmental organizations, scientists, State and federal natural

resource managers, enforcement personnel, grain growers, and ranchers.

The team also visited parks, open range, chillers, faunal dealers,

ports and exporters. The team presented their findings in a June 5,

1990, report (Nichols et al. 1990). The Service, in a Federal Register

notice of August 8, 1990 (55 FR 32276), announced the receipt of the

Greenpeace petition and the availability of the June 5, 1990, Service

report and requested comments on the status of the three species of

kangaroos in Australia. The comment period on the status review for the

December 20, 1989, petition was extended to November 6, 1990.

The Wildlife Legislative Fund of America submitted a petition dated

November 6, 1990, which was received by the Service on the following

day. That petition requested that all populations of the red kangaroo

(Macropus rufus), the western gray kangaroo (M. fuliginosus), and the

eastern gray kangaroo (M. giganteus), except the subspecies M. g.

tasmaniensis, be removed from the list of threatened species under the

Endangered Species Act (Act).

The Wildlife Legislative Fund petition presented the June 5, 1990,

report prepared by Service personnel as the principal basis for the

petition. Among other things, the petitioners cited the conservative

estimates of the 1987 kangaroo populations (red kangaroos--7.5 million,

western gray kangaroos--1.7 million, and eastern gray kangaroos--4.7

million) and the fact that kangaroo conservation programs exist within

individual range states as reasons for delisting the species.

The Service, in a Federal Register notice of June 12, 1991 (56 FR

26971), found that the action requested in the November 6, 1990,

petition may be warranted and requested additional comments as part of

a continuing status review of kangaroos and kangaroo management in

Australia. The comment period was reopened until September 10, 1991.

That comment period was later extended to September 24, 1991, in a

Federal Register notice dated September 17, 1991 (56 FR 47060).

The Service published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on

January 21, 1993 (58 FR 5341) proposing to remove the three species of

kangaroos in mainland Australia from the list of threatened species

under the Act. The Service had found that the four States that

commercially harvest kangaroos (New South Wales, Queensland, South

Australia, and Western Australia) had developed and implemented

adequate and effective conservation programs that ensured the

protection of these species. The Service additionally found that

kangaroo populations were high and that the three species were

protected by appropriate legislation, had their populations regularly

monitored by direct and indirect procedures, and were managed by a

complex licensing system which regulated the extent of the legal

harvest. The Service in that Federal Register document also announced

that it was deferring a decision on the December 20, 1989, petition by

Greenpeace USA to reimpose the ban on the importation of kangaroo

products until the final [[Page 12889]] decision on the proposed action

was made. The Service also indicated that if the final decision was to

delist the three species that it would then act to rescind the special

rule allowing imports of kangaroo products from threatened populations

into the United States.

The Service notes that a nonlisted status for these three species

under the Act is wholly consistent with listing decisions made by other

organizations. The three species of kangaroos are described as abundant

by the Australian Conservation Foundation. The species are not on lists

published by the Council of Nature Conservation Ministers, World Wide

Fund for Nature Australia (WWF), or Fund for Animals Ltd., that

variously identify species of Australian fauna they find to be

endangered, threatened, or vulnerable. The status of the three species

in mainland Australia is described as stable by the Species Survival

Commission of the World Conservation Union's (IUCN/SSC) Australasian

Marsupial and Monotreme Specialist Group in its 1992 publication

(Kennedy 1992). That publication also indicates that the western gray

kangaroo has declined less than 10 percent in geographic range since

European settlement and that the eastern gray kangaroo and the red

kangaroo may actually have increased their geographic range since

European settlement. The IUCN/SSC publication also listed the three

kangaroos as among those taxa for which there is no genetic concern--

either because they are common in captivity, or readily available from

the wild, requiring monitoring only by annual census.

Summary of Comments and Recommendations

The Service received about 740 comments in response to the January

21, 1993, request for comments published in the Federal Register (58 FR

5341). Virtually all correspondents supported the request to ban the

importation of kangaroo products into the United States and/or

advocated the retention of threatened status for the species. Most

comments provided no substantive information on these issues.

The harvest of kangaroo products provides raw materials for a

primary industry in Australia. Many individuals and organizations

expressed dissatisfaction or distaste for this fact. For example, about

700 comments were in response to an Action Alert published by the

Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) which stated that the

Australian Government sanctioned the slaughter of 5.2 million kangaroos

in 1992 to supply the domestic and international market for kangaroo

skins. This was from a combined kangaroo population which the HSUS

claimed only totaled 13.9 million. Respondents especially advocated the

retention of threatened status (374 replies), or the retention of

threatened status and the reimposition of the importation ban (260

replies).

The underlying concern expressed by the HSUS respondents as well as

many other commentators regarded the commercial harvest and trade in

these kangaroo species, which are protected species under Australian

domestic legislation. Commenters frequently expressed (1) an outrage

that a commercial harvest was allowed to occur by an industry that many

persons characterized as illegitimate; (2) a view that market forces,

if not at present, might in the future overwhelm conservation practices

to the detriment of the species; and (3) a view that the threat of

trade restrictions was necessary to ensure that Australian governments

continue to manage kangaroos in a responsible manner.

The Service response to this recurring and significant concern is

as follows. The determination to utilize, in commercial trade, kangaroo

products from well-managed populations is a domestic issue that will

ultimately be determined at the ballot box, in the legislatures, and in

the courts of Australia. The Service has the responsibility to

determine whether the species are threatened or endangered under the

Endangered Species Act and to promulgate certain special rules if

required. A finding of threatened or endangered is made after five

specific listing criteria have been evaluated. The second of these

criteria questions whether overutilization occurs, for among other

reasons, commercial purposes. The Service has found, as indicated

below, that the commercial quotas are related to kangaroo populations

occurring within the commercial utilization area (CUA). The CUA is that

portion of the range of the individual species where the commercial

harvest is allowed to occur.

Kangaroo populations are known to cycle in abundance within the

CUAs because much of inland Australia is an arid and drought-prone

landscape where unregulated kangaroo numbers increase when water is

plentiful and diminish in times of drought. Extensive annual surveys

occur in South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland to estimate

kangaroo populations in order to set harvest quotas for the subsequent

calendar year. Those surveys using fixed-wing aircraft seem to reliably

index kangaroo populations in open and arid landscapes but to

significantly underestimate populations in woodlands, such as the mulga

woodlands of southern Queensland. Aerial surveys conducted from

helicopters seem to more reliably indicate kangaroo populations in the

woodland habitats. The kangaroo populations in vast and thinly

inhabited Western Australia are estimated every third year from aerial

surveys and inferred in intermediate years from a variety of data.

Harvest quotas are usually established as a percentage of the

estimated kangaroo population after considering potential range

conditions as predicted from current rainfall data. Frequently, the

harvest quota has totaled about 15-20 percent of the estimated kangaroo

population and about 70 percent of the commercial harvest quota has

been annually harvested. Kangaroo shooters are licensed, and can only

kill kangaroos for commercial purposes on private properties after

shooters have obtained permission from landowners. Commercial shooters

can only sell their kangaroo hides and meat to licensed dealers.

Products only from these commercially killed kangaroos can enter

international commerce. The Service believes that the Commonwealth and

State governments in Australia have a sincere interest in the

preservation of their native wildlife species and act in a professional

manner to manage these kangaroo species so they will occur in abundance

into perpetuity. The Service has no reason to believe that market

pressures will one day insidiously drive conservation activities in

Australia, and notes that the United States and the international

community could act to limit the trade in kangaroo products, should the

status of these three kangaroo species be significantly reduced in the

future.

The Service disagrees that threatened status should be retained for

these abundant and sufficiently managed species, at this time, to

ensure that a primary industry behaves or because one day the

threatened status may somehow be useful in the management of kangaroos.

The Service believes the lists of endangered and threatened species

should only include those animals and plants whose current status fit

the definitions of the Act. The Service has found that these three

species of kangaroos are not threatened species (i.e., species in

danger of extinction, within the foreseeable future, throughout all or

a significant portion of their range).

Several comments stated that the threatened status should be

retained for the three species of kangaroos because [[Page 12890]] of

the current quality of kangaroo management in Australia. These comments

(A-M) are treated together in this assessment because they are closely

related and actually pertain to a larger issue, which is ``How much

management is sufficient?'' The comments and Service responses are

listed below for comments A-M and this is followed by a discussion of

the ``sufficiency of management'' question.

A. Comment: Survey methods, especially in Queensland, are

unreliable. Response: Nichols et al. (1990) stated that ``Australian

biologists have been leaders in the development of aerial survey ethods

for estimating animal population size. Current surveys are very

extensive, properly standardized and well thought out. Some additional

work needs to be done on the estimation of visibility correction

factors, but such work is well underway. Current research indicates

that previously-used correction factors may be too small. Published

estimates of kangaroo population size thus are based on sound

methodology but are probably too small.'' Additional studies have been

conducted since 1990. Queensland is especially concerned about methods

to more reliably estimate animal numbers in woodland habitats.

Queensland has annually accomplished fixed-wing aerial surveys from

1984 to 1992, and helicopter surveys since 1991. Queensland plans to

further review the results of population surveys using fixed-wing

aircraft and helicopters to establish revised correction factors for

use in surveys of woodland habitats.

B. Comment: The Commonwealth and State governments have failed to

implement measures to make kangaroo plans adequate to protect

kangaroos. Response: It is unclear whether this comment pertains to the

apparent contradiction wherein different domestic statutes provide both

protective status to the species and allow a commercial harvest of the

species or to some perceived inadequacy in the kangaroo management

plans. Any conflict in domestic legislation is an Australian domestic

matter. The Service has found that the kangaroo management plans

developed by the States and agreed to by the Commonwealth are

sufficient to allow the species to be delisted.

C. Comment: The commercial slaughter of kangaroos constitutes a

very real threat to the survival of the species. Response: For the

reasons stated above, and later in this final rule, the Service has

found that the current commercial harvest of these managed kangaroo

species does not threaten the survival of these species in mainland

Australia at present nor is it likely to in the foreseeable future.

D. Comment: The kangaroo slaughter is unnecessary. Response: The

necessity and desirability of commercially harvesting kangaroos is an

Australian domestic matter. The Service's assessment is only that the

present managed harvest does not cause the Service to conclude that the

kangaroo populations should be listed as threatened.

E. Comment: The development of a meat market will increase demands

on kangaroo populations. Response: The decision to seek domestic and

international markets for kangaroo meat is an Australian domestic

issue. The Service believes that the present management is sufficient

and notes that extensive non-use of kangaroo protein accompanies a

skins-only harvest, and that a well run meat industry can more fully

and more efficiently use the current harvest.

F. Comment: The adoption of a sustained use management principle

for a protected species was accomplished without a public debate.

Response: The Service considers this to be an Australian domestic

matter and not a factor in making a listing decision under the Act.

G. Comment: The ``threatened'' listing was valuable because it

allowed the Service to act as an international watchdog on the kangaroo

industry. Response: The Service promotes the international conservation

of species and the international enhancement of biodiversity. The

Service is obligated to properly classify these species based on the

criteria stipulated in the Act.

H. Comment: Kangaroos routinely carry such a high parasite load

that they are unfit for human consumption. Response: It is the

responsibility of the Commonwealth government to assure the citizens of

Australia and the world, if such exports are allowed, about the quality

of any kangaroo meat product. The Service notes this is clearly not an

issue to consider when making an evaluation under the Act.

I. Comment: Tags placed on carcasses and skins are not species

specific. Response: The Service agrees that species specific kangaroo

tags would likely allow the States to have a better control over the

kangaroo harvest and over the marketing of kangaroo products. The

Service notes that the kangaroo harvest is sufficiently monitored in

other ways such as the assessment of shooter's records, dealer's

records, sex-age composition of the kill and descriptors of other

biological attributes. These records help ensure that the kangaroo

harvest is adequately managed.

J. Comment: Customs officers do not inspect all consignments of

kangaroo products prior to their export. Response: The kangaroo harvest

and exports are thoroughly reported and State and Federal enforcement

personnel have authority for search and seizures that the Service

believes will adequately control any significant illegal activities.

K. Comment: Harvest quotas do not include animals killed for the

domestic market or for nuisance purposes. Response: The Service agrees

that it would be beneficial to management if all kangaroos killed were

tagged and reported. This effort would benefit the estimate of total

harvest and would help curtail any movement of untagged animals into

commerce. The Service notes that harvest quotas are based on estimates

of the living population so that the establishment of a harvest quota

is a function of all sources of mortality that have impacted kangaroo

populations up to the time of quota determination. The Service further

notes that kangaroos killed for the domestic market are part of the

kill regulated by the harvest quotas but that kangaroos killed for pest

control are outside the harvest quota. The kill for pest control,

however, is limited. For example, the number of kangaroos killed for

damage mitigation purposes is believed to be less than 1 percent of the

population.

L. Comment: There is inadequate enforcement of animal welfare

requirements. Response: The Service agrees that any wildlife harvest

should be conducted in as humane a manner as is possible, but this is

not a criterion to be considered in making listing determinations under

the Act.

M. Comment: The State and Commonwealth governments have inadequate

resources for kangaroo management. Response: The Service finds that

resources available to conservation agencies in Australia are

sufficient so these three species of kangaroos are adequately protected

under present management.

A decision to list or delist species under the Act often requires a

decision about the ``sufficiency of management.'' No government or

agency provides perfect management but many governments and agencies

provide sufficient management so individual wildlife species can be

used in a sustainable manner. A reasonable standard for the Service to

use to determine sufficiency of management in any country is to compare

the management of the foreign species with the management of a

comparable species within the United States. The [[Page 12891]] white-

tailed deer in the United States is, in some ways, comparable to the

kangaroo in Australia. The white-tailed deer analogy is utilized herein

to provide a measure of scale. Scale is important for understanding the

size of ranges, the size of populations, the size of the harvest, and

the magnitude of management and law enforcement problems. It is fully

understood that harvest mechanisms differ between deer (sport-hunting)

and kangaroos (commercial harvest). That significant difference,

however, is not directly relevant to the present discussion.

The white-tailed deer may be about as numerous in the United States

as are the three kangaroos in Australia, and the white-tailed deer is

sufficiently managed at about the same intensity as are the kangaroos.

State and the Commonwealth governments in Australia accomplish a

variety of aerial and ground censuses and computer simulations to

estimate kangaroo populations, and these estimates become the basis for

the establishment of harvest quotas. State governments in the United

States use a variety of ground surveys and computer simulation models

to estimate white-tailed deer populations, and these estimates become

the basis for establishing desired levels of harvest. Some level of

public comment is sought in establishing harvest levels in both

countries. Some level of appraisal of habitat carrying capacity

frequently occurs for both deer and the kangaroo species. The actual

harvests of kangaroos in Australia and deer in the United States are

regulated by complex licensing systems. Landholders seek harvest

permits from State governments in Australia and professional hunters

seek licenses from those State governments and hunt permission from

individual landholders in order to legally kill kangaroos. The

professional hunter then sells kangaroo hides and/or carcasses to

licensed dealers. State governments in the United States establish

hunting seasons and bag limits and sell licenses to individual hunters

who must seek permission to hunt on private lands but who may also hunt

on certain public lands. Deer hunters vary considerably in their

hunting skills and deer products are for personal rather than

commercial use. Some level of illegal kill occurs in each country

because there are insufficient resources to police all levels of the

kangaroo industry and all deer hunting events.

One major difference between deer and kangaroo management is that

kangaroos in arid habitats seem more likely to experience large

population fluctuations. A second difference between deer and kangaroo

management is that in the United States 12 million licensed hunters

annually kill 3 million deer for personal consumption, whereas in

Australia 3 million kangaroos may be killed by about 1700 licensed

professional hunters who each kill an average of 1800 kangaroos for

commercial purposes. Neither species is threatened by its respective

management regime, as both deer and kangaroos are managed in a way that

is adequate to maintain harvestable populations over time.

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) provided

three comments that are answered individually, below. The first comment

from CIEL stated that the proposal to delist the three species is a

political action and is not a justified biological decision. CIEL

maintained that Australia had put political pressure on the Bush

administration, and that this delisting action was the last act of the

Service during that Administration. CIEL also held that a brief 60-day

comment period underscores the attempt to sneak a final rule past a new

Administration.

The Service response is that the proposal to delist these species,

published in the Federal Register on January 21, 1993, evolved from a

request in a December 20, 1989, petition filed by Greenpeace USA, ``to

reinstate the ban on commercial importation of kangaroos and kangaroo

products''. That petition generated a review that was subsequently

cited in a petition to delist the species filed on November 6, 1990, by

the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America. The Service notes

correspondence from the Center for International Environmental Law,

dated April 9, 1992, requesting that the Service make a final decision

on both petitions by the end of the summer of 1992. Consequently, the

Service made every effort to arrive at a decision regarding the two

petitions and to publish the required proposal in as timely a manner as

possible. A Service biologist returned from a fact-finding trip to

Australia on August 1, 1992, and prepared the proposed rule by mid-

November. The intervening 2-month period from mid-November until

publication in mid-January reflects normal Service review time and

delays associated with the holiday season. The 60-day comment period on

the proposed rule is not at all unusual. It is the same comment period

specified in some other recent proposed rules involving foreign species

such as the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Butterfly in the March 1, 1989,

Federal Register (54 FR 8574) and the Nile Crocodile in the August 3,

1992, Federal Register (57 FR 34095).

The second comment from CIEL declared that the proposal to delist

the three species of kangaroos continues a pattern seen over the past

few years during which time the Service has failed to add protection

to, or has reduced protection for, several species of commercial

interest.

The Service response is that it has not abrogated its

responsibilities to world conservation and arbitrarily reduced

protection to species because of their commercial value. The Service

supports the sustainable use of wildlife if that use can be shown not

to threaten the survival of the species. The Service, since 1989, has

added foreign species to the list of endangered species under the

United States Endangered Species Act (e.g., the chimpanzee, several

snub-nosed monkeys, and a variety of birds, including psittacines, and

turtles). The Service periodically reevaluates the status of species as

new information becomes available and occasionally transfers species

between lists or removes species from the lists of endangered and

threatened species when justified. The Service supported the listing of

the African elephant and six species of fruit bats to Appendix I at the

Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(CITES) in 1989 and successfully proposed the addition of the Goffin's

cockatoo and the bog turtle to Appendix I at the Eighth Meeting of the

CITES Conference of the Parties in 1992. The Service also successfully

proposed five other additions to Appendix II at the 1992 meeting and

offered proposals to amend Appendices, in accordance with the 10-year

review process of CITES. Some of those proposals required the transfer

of species between Appendices. The Service sought to suspend commercial

trade in certain wild bird species of concern that are listed in

Appendix II of CITES at the 1992 CITES Convention and supported the

passage of domestic legislation in 1992 (The Wild Bird Conservation Act

of 1992) to ensure that U.S. bird imports do not jeopardize wild bird

populations.

The third comment from CIEL states that the Service must retain the

kangaroos on the list of threatened species and reinstate the import

ban because the long and continuing drought constitutes an important

natural factor affecting the existence of these species of kangaroos.

The Service notes that enclosures submitted by CIEL on March 22,

1993, clearly indicate extensive areas in New [[Page 12892]] South

Wales (NSW) and Queensland that retain a drought-declared designation

as of March 1, 1993. These enclosures are presented as evidence that

drought continues to devastate Australia and kangaroo populations. A

February 5, 1993, letter from John Eveleigh, Assistant Regional

Manager, Western Region, New South Wales, to the Director, Australian

National Parks and Wildlife Service (ANPWS), clearly indicates that

economic factors as well as rainfall totals determine the declaration

of drought status by the Department of Agriculture.

An El Nino-related drought occurred in parts of Australia during

1991-2 and affected some populations of the three kangaroo species.

Rainfall deficiencies from March through October 1991 occurred

throughout nearly all of Queensland, in northcentral and northeastern

New South Wales, some portions of the Northern Territory and in extreme

northeastern Western Australia. Rains during November 1991 through

January 1992 essentially reduced the rainfall-deficient area to the

eastern two-thirds of Queensland, the northern portion of the Northern

Territory and northern Western Australia. Additional rains during

February 1992 further reduced the rainfall-deficient areas to

southcentral Queensland and the northeastern coastal areas of

Queensland, the northern portion of the Northern Territory and northern

Western Australia. The rainfall-deficient area, by May 1992, was

further reduced to southcentral Queensland, northcentral New South

Wales, and the central and northern coasts of Queensland. The rainfall-

deficient area for the 17-month period from March 1, 1991 to July 31,

1992, occurred in southcentral Queensland and extreme northcentral New

South Wales. Much of this southcentral Queensland and northcentral New

South Wales area experienced severe rainfall deficiencies and two small

localized portions of this area recorded record rainfall deficiencies

during this 17-month period. These portions of Queensland and New South

Wales constitute important kangaroo habitat.

The 1991-1992 drought event ended in these kangaroo habitats

because rainfall totals listed as highest on record were recorded

throughout the southern portion of South Australia, southwestern New

South Wales and much of Victoria from November 1, 1992 to January 31,

1993. Rainfall totals recorded as very much above average were recorded

for much of the remainder of South Australia and western and central

New South Wales during this same three month period. At least average

rainfall fell over most of Queensland, including the most important

kangaroo habitats, in the November 1, 1992 to January 31, 1993 period.

Drought areas in New South Wales received reasonable rains in the first

half of 1993 and even better rains in the second half of the year.

Drought declarations in Queensland, by early 1994, occurred in about 46

percent of the State's land area. No rangelands are drought declared in

Western Australia in early 1994, and South Australia has experienced

good rainfall years from 1989-1993 in most parts of the State. The

1991-2 drought, at one time or another, affected northern New South

Wales, most of Queensland, eastern and northern portions of the

Northern Territory and northern Western Australia. The 1991-2 drought

was not experienced in the other 60 percent of the continent.

About 70 percent of Australia is classified as arid or semi-arid

and is characterized by high variability in rainfall. Drought

periodically occurs to these landscapes, and its severity and duration

can clearly affect pasture quality and kangaroo well-being and numbers.

At least 47 major drought events have been recorded somewhere on the

continent during the 100 year period from 1888 to 1988 (data provided

by ANPWS and excerpted from ``Water 2000: Consultants Report No 13--

Water Resources Aspects of Drought in Australia'' Dept. Resources and

Energy (1983) and Bureau of Meteorology). Areas of deficient rainfall

are to be expected on the Australian continent. Wildlife management

specialists accept drought as a ``normal'' event and manage their

resources accordingly by reducing kill during years when kangaroo

populations are diminished and increasing harvest when populations are

increased (see below). The 1991-1992 drought impacted kangaroos,

especially in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, but did

not and does not threaten the continental population of these three

species.

Drought areas were declared in most of New South Wales and some

southern and eastern areas of Queensland in Australia's winter of 1994.

The effect of this drought on kangaroo populations is not yet known,

but as noted earlier, kangaroo populations have recovered from the

previous severe drought of 1982-83 (longer in some areas). Furthermore,

while 1995 kangaroo harvest quotas are not yet known, the Service has

reviewed and discussed the State and Commonwealth management program

and believes that appropriate quotas will be established to maintain

kangaroo populations.

An additional comment expressed by several persons concerned the

capability and willingness of wildlife managers to reduce the kangaroo

kill when populations are diminished. They claimed that Australia's

management plans do not reduce the kill quotas during droughts and the

present drought has sharply reduced kangaroo populations and clearly

placed the species in jeopardy.

The Service responds with a summary description of the management

actions that one state, New South Wales (NSW), has undertaken to manage

kangaroos during drought declared conditions in the 1980s and 1990s.

NSW has about a third of the continent's population of red and gray

kangaroos. This summary is excerpted from a letter from John Eveleigh,

Assistant Regional Manager, Western Region, New South Wales National

Parks and Wildlife Service, to the Director, Australian National Parks

and Wildlife Service, dated February 5, 1993. A significant area of NSW

was declared to be within a drought declared zone in 1982. A total

harvest quota of 843,000 animals had previously been established for

1982, which was 12 percent of the 1981 estimated NSW population of 7

million kangaroos. A fixed quota was allocated for the first six months

of 1982 and a notional quota was allocated for the second half of the

year to be modified if climatic conditions dictated. The 1982 mid-

winter (June-August) population survey estimated a total NSW kangaroo

population of about 9.4 million animals with the population of red

kangaroos still increasing but that of gray kangaroos being diminished

by about 29 percent.

Because of the drought conditions the harvest quota for calendar

year 1983 was maintained at 843,000, about 9 percent of the 1982

estimated population. Drought conditions prevailed throughout far

western and eastern portions of NSW during 1983, but relieving rains

fell throughout the central portion of the state. Quotas were allocated

as in 1982. The mid-winter 1983 population estimate indicated a total

NSW kangaroo population of 5.5 million, with some decline in red

kangaroos and a significant decline in the number of gray kangaroos. A

total harvest quota of 500,000 was established for 1984, which

represented about 9 percent of the total 1983 population. The harvest

quota for red kangaroos was set at 12 percent, but no culling was

authorized in selected one-degree blocks within management zones.

Culling of gray kangaroos was [[Page 12893]] allowed in three

management zones and was disallowed in seven other zones. In addition,

properties of applicants for non-commercial culling of red or gray

kangaroos within the closed areas were subject to physical inspection

by NSW Rangers prior to license grant considerations.

Drought conditions continued to widen across NSW in 1984. The mid-

winter 1984 population estimate indicated a total NSW kangaroo

population of about 2.8 million with an increasing red kangaroo

population, a static gray kangaroo population in the eastern management

zones, and a decline in both red and gray populations in western

management zones. A harvest quota of 300,000 (11 percent of the 1984

population) was established for 1985, but no harvest was allowed in

areas containing estimated population densities of one or fewer red or

gray kangaroos per sq km. Drought conditions still extended across NSW

in early 1985, except for the extreme southwestern portion of the

state. Drought-breaking rains fell in late 1985, and early 1986 and the

state was declared drought-free in 1986. The mid-winter 1985 population

estimate indicated a total kangaroo population of about 4.15 million

with a recovery of both red and gray kangaroo populations. Some pockets

with low populations remained, and no harvest was allowed during 1986

in areas with a kangaroo density less than or equal to one per sq km. A

1986 harvest quota of 577,000 was established (14 percent of the

population) but 15 percent of the quota was withheld and not allocated.

Drought conditions did not occur in NSW from 1987-1991, and

populations of both red and gray kangaroos and harvest quotas

progressively increased each year. The total harvest also usually

increased each year. The mid-winter 1990 population estimate indicated

a total kangaroo population in NSW of 8.55 million with increases in

both red and gray kangaroos. A 1991 harvest quota of 1.5 million was

established which was 18 percent of the population estimate. Thirteen

percent of the quota was held back and not allocated. Drought

conditions began to extend southward from Queensland into the northern

management zones of NSW. The mid-winter 1991 population estimate

indicated a total kangaroo population in NSW of 9.1 million. A harvest

quota of 2.1 million was established which was about 23 percent of the

1991 population estimate. Fifteen percent of the harvest quota was held

back and not allocated. By January 1992, the 1991-2 drought had

extended further into NSW and was declared to cover the northern and

eastern portions of the state. Kangaroos reportedly moved to the south

as the drought progressed and some quota allocations were transferred

from northern management zones to more southern zones. The notional

quotas for July-December 1992 were reviewed in July 1992. Preliminary

1992 survey figures indicated that central and southern populations

were barely impacted by the drought and kangaroo populations were

increasing in the most southern management zones.

By December 1992 the drought declarations indicated that the

drought had retreated to the most northern management zones of NSW. The

mid-winter 1992 population estimate indicated a total NSW kangaroo

population of 8.04 million. A harvest quota of 1.66 million was

established which was about 21 percent of the 1992 population estimate.

The 1992 survey indicated declines of the red kangaroo throughout

the northern management zones, stability in the central management

zones and increases in the southern management zones. Populations of

the gray kangaroo were somewhat diminished in some management zones.

Harvest quotas for 1993 were diminished for populations in those

management zones where kangaroo populations were found to be reduced.

Fourteen percent of the potential harvest quota was held back and not

allocated.

The notional quota for the second half of 1993 was reviewed when

preliminary mid-winter 1993 population estimates were available.

February 1993 reports indicated that drought-breaking rains were

widespread in NSW and that drought conditions were retracting to the

north.

This synopsis indicates how New South Wales strives to manage

kangaroos on ranges periodically impacted by droughts. It is not

possible to attain and maintain a specific kangaroo population on such

landscapes, and such populations are expected to cycle as periodic

droughts overtake portions of the continent. Management strives to

follow the cycle. This requires frequent monitoring of kangaroo

populations and the setting of low harvest quotas when populations are

low but allows for the setting of higher quotas when kangaroo

populations are expanding. This is exhibited by the NSW data where a

harvest quota of 300,000 was established for 1985 when the mid-winter

1984 NSW population was estimated at 2.7 million and a harvest quota of

2.07 million was established for 1992 when the 1991 mid-winter NSW

kangaroo population was estimated at 9.11 million.

Harvest quotas represent the maximum number of kangaroos that can

enter domestic or international commerce in a given year after having

been taken in accordance with state-approved plans. About 70 percent of

the quota has been harvested during recent calendar years. The maximum

allowable kill is regulated as is the relative location of that kill.

New South Wales has closed management zones to harvest, has closed

degree blocks within management zones to harvest, has reallocated

harvest quotas between management zones as a result of new population

survey information, routinely issues the second half of the harvest

quota in the second half of the calendar year, and routinely holds back

some percentage of the commercial quota as a safety precaution. In

addition, the legal harvesting of kangaroos is a licensed operation and

all aspects of licensing can be suspended at any time during the

calendar year if such actions are necessary. Other harvesting States

also have regulatory measures that allow the reduction of take if

environmental or other factors adversely impact kangaroo populations.

A comment supporting the Service's proposed rule was provided by

The Wildlife Legislative Fund of America (WLFA) which had filed the

November 6, 1990, petition to delist the three kangaroo species. WLFA

stated it is a strong supporter of the Endangered Species Act when it

is applied to species that truly require protection from over-

exploitation or critical habitat destruction. WLFA also stated that

listing species like these three species overburdens the system and

detracts from the ultimate goal of protecting truly endangered species.

WLFA stated that recovered species should be delisted as quickly as

possible to encourage recovery efforts for other listed species and to

focus the limited efforts of the Service on species and populations in

greater need of scientific and public attention. WLFA stated that

keeping these species on the threatened list could only be interpreted

as bureaucratic red tape designed to stifle the legitimate trade in a

closely controlled and monitored renewable resource. WLFA further

stated that delisting does not foreclose continued efforts by the

Service to selectively monitor the kangaroo management programs of

Australia. The Service concurs.

The Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, now known as

the Australian Nature Conservation Agency (ANCA), also submitted

comments [[Page 12894]] about the extent and duration of the 1991-2

drought, the sensitivity of the kangaroo management plans of New South

Wales to drought and environmental stress during the 1980s and 1990s,

and the 1992 population estimates and the kangaroo harvest quotas

determined for 1993.

The notice containing the proposed rule, published on January 21,

1993 (58 FR 5341), described a series of monitoring reports to be

submitted annually from the Commonwealth to the Service. The Service,

on January 27, 1994, received a report of the 1993 population surveys.

The Service, because the additional information was received before the

final rule was finalized, announced the new information and extended

the comment period in a Federal Register notice on February 18, 1994

(59 FR 8163).

After the close of the 1993 comment period on the proposed rule,

additional letters were received before the comment period was

reopened. These were tallied with those received when the comment

period was reopened in 1994, and all of these comments were considered

in the preparation of this rule. Comments received during this combined

period included 883 letters and 14 ``petitions'' containing an

additional 310 signatures. Most of these letters received during the

interim period continued to raise concerns about the inhumane aspects

of the harvest, the effects of drought, the adequacy of management

plans, high harvest quotas, and high unregulated or illegal killings.

The Service's responses to these issues were addressed above in the

responses to earlier comments. One commenter supported the delisting

because of its perception that this would enable the species to be used

in ranching. This is not relevant to our decision.

Several new comments were received in response to the February 18,

1994, Federal Register notice. CIEL submitted several comments that

seem based on inadequate or incomplete information. In addressing

those, the Service notes (1) that the information submitted by ANCA was

in voluntary compliance with monitoring provisions listed in the

January 21, 1993, Federal Register (58 FR 5341); (2) that the 1993

surveys were accomplished using standardized techniques that have been

developed and improved upon for over a decade; (3) that the submitted

numerical estimates represent additional data points in a long-term

description of kangaroo populations in the commercial utilization areas

of four different states; (4) that a substantial assessment of the

status of kangaroos and kangaroo management is made in this final rule;

(5) that the Service has actively sought input into the kangaroo issue

by sending Service biologists to Australia in 1980, 1990 and 1992; (6)

that the destructive fires of 1993 were largely outside the commercial

utilization areas of New South Wales and Queensland; and (7) that the

Service has a responsibility to delist species that are not presently

threatened or endangered. The Service has considered and used the best

available scientific and commercial information available in this

decision and believes that no further data is necessary for it to make

this delisting decision. The Service makes this decision based on all

of the factors required by the Act as discussed specifically in this

rule. In addition, the comment periods provided for consideration of

this proposal met the requirements imposed by law; and this delisting

will not breach the ESA duty to conserve the species as they are no

longer threatened under the Act.

Other comments by CIEL pertaining to the alleged political nature

of the listing decision, the perceived failure of the Service to

exercise its responsibilities to provide protection to commercially

utilized species, and the importance of drought as an environmental

hazard threatening kangaroo populations are addressed above in this

final rule.

The Kangaroo Protection Cooperative, Ltd., and the Australian

Wildlife Protection Council believed the selection of large males in

the commercial harvest would threaten the future fitness of the

species. It is likely that this selective harvest will shorten the age

structure in populations of wild kangaroos, but it is not evident

whether it will adversely impact the gene pool of the species. The

Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Union (IUCN/SSC)

Australasian Marsupial and Monotreme Specialist Group lists populations

of the three species as stable with no genetic concerns (Kennedy 1992).

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the Australian and

New Zealand Federation of Animal Societies, Dr. John Auty, representing

the Australian Wildlife Protection Council, and CIEL each expressed

concern about the estimates of major reductions in the kangaroo

populations of Western Australia, from 1990-1993, and the explanation

for that decline offered by ANCA. Dr. Gerry Maynes, of the ANCA, in a

March 4, 1994, letter to Mr. Chris Wold of CIEL, offered the following

explanation for the Western Australian data:

``The results for 1990 may be distorted by population estimates for

the two blocks 012 and 013, which together contributed 50% to the

overall estimate (this contrasts with contribution of 20% and 22% in

1984 and 1987, respectively). The estimated density in the 012 block

(45 per sq km) is far higher than in any previous year for either

kangaroo species. This result may be an artifact of change placement in

the transect line; in 1990 the flight line coincided exactly with the

distinct vegetation ecotone of mallee and open plain (ideal habitat for

kangaroos), but in previous years this may not have been so

(navigational variation of a few kilometers is common, even with

satellite navigation gear, and this could lead to such variation

between years). Placement of only one line in each of these blocks in

the 1990 and previous surveys would facilitate such possible random

variation. We therefore suggest caution when interpreting the recent

acceleration in population numbers, and recommend that in future

surveys two lines be allocated to these blocks. Thus, while the long

term increase is likely to be real, the estimated increase of 99% from

1987 to 1990 may be an overestimate of the increase.''

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes the kangaroo

populations in Western Australia should be more intensively monitored

to enhance the quality of their management.

Several commenters suggested that the recent devastating fires in

New South Wales and Queensland represented environmental disasters that

threatened these species. Dr. Gerry Maynes of ANCA in a March 7, 1994,

letter to Dr. C. Dane, indicated that:

``The area in which fires occurred was from the Queensland border

to just north of the Victorian border. These fires had no effect on

population numbers of kangaroos in the commercial harvest zone of New

South Wales * * * Although the fires were widespread throughout the

non-commercial zone they have had variable impacts on wildlife

including kangaroos due to the variable areas involved and intensities

of the fires. The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service

has initiated follow-up research in parks which were burnt to determine

the effects of the fires and the recovery of wildlife populations.

While fires have had localized impacts on wildlife populations,

wildfires are only a significant threat to populations of wildlife

which are restricted in distribution * * * or do not possess

adaptations to avoid the immediate impacts of the fire or to recover

quickly after the fire.''

The HSUS indicated that the kangaroo species should be listed on

CITES before [[Page 12895]] being removed from the lists of endangered

and threatened species. This is not a statutory pre-condition to

delisting, and is not relevant in light of the Service's finding that

Australian regulatory mechanisms are adequate. Neither the HSUS nor any

other group or individual petitioned the Service to list these

kangaroos on the CITES Appendices when the Service published a Federal

Register notice on July 15, 1993 (58 FR 38112) inviting CITES

proposals. In addition, neither the HSUS nor any other group or

individual commented on the absence of these kangaroos from the

proposed list of species to be considered by the Service for possible

CITES action, (59 FR 3832, January 27, 1994).

Two comments dealing with the validity of the population estimates

were received after the close of the February 18, 1994, comment period

and are herein addressed. The first comment alleged that the Caughley

correction factors overestimated the number of red kangaroos and the

second comment alleged that the Caughley correction factors

overestimated the number of gray kangaroos during extended drought

conditions. The Service notes that a senior FWS biometrician traveled

to Australia in 1990 and evaluated the procedures currently used to

estimate kangaroo populations. His assessment, summarized in item A

(above), indicates that current surveys are very extensive, properly

standardized, well thought out, and that additional work to improve

visibility correction factors is ongoing. Results from surveys, listed

in Tables 1-4, indicate trends that are interpretable using data that

have driven successful kangaroo management programs for over a decade.

Further development of sampling procedures, including the additional

refining of visibility correction factors, should further improve

census data.

Other comments submitted in response to the February 18, 1994,

Federal Register notice are also addressed above in this final rule.

These comments concern the impact that a meat market might have on the

commercial utilization of kangaroos, the belief that staff cuts to the

U.S. Customs Service might lead to nefarious activities in commerce,

the belief that cruelty is rampant in the harvest of kangaroos, the

belief that population data and management activities and trade

controls are inadequate in kangaroo management, the argument that

harvest quotas should consider all forms of mortality, and the

perception that droughts and periodic floods represent substantial

hazards to kangaroo populations.

Summary of Factors Affecting the Species

Section 4(a)(1) of the Act and regulations implementing the listing

provisions of the Act (50 CFR part 424) set forth the procedures for

adding species to or deleting species from the List of Endangered and

Threatened Wildlife. A species shall be listed or reclassified on the

basis of the best scientific or commercial data available after

conducting a review of the species' status with regard to the five

following evaluation factors: (A) The present or threatened

destruction, modification or curtailment of its habitat or range; (B)

overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or

educational purposes; (C) disease or predation; (D) the inadequacy of

existing regulatory mechanisms; and, (E) other natural or manmade

factors affecting its continued existence.

This final rule is based on an assessment of the five listing

criteria within the Act. The assessment considered the present

biological status of the three kangaroo species in mainland Australia.

The five factors, as they apply to eastern gray kangaroo (Macropus

giganteus), western gray kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus), and red

kangaroo (Macropus rufus) are as follows:

A. The Present or Threatened Destruction, Modification, or Curtailment

of Its Habitat or Range

Extensive kangaroo habitats have been lost or seriously degraded

where urbanization and several forms of intensive agriculture have

occurred. The eastern gray kangaroo has lost important habitats to

development and agriculture in eastern Queensland, New South Wales

(NSWNPWS 1991a) and throughout Victoria. The species, however, is

considered abundant and widespread over large areas of eastern

Australia where annual rainfall exceeds 250 mm but has little seasonal

trend or where summer rains exceed winter rains (ANPWS 1991b). That

publication summarizes habitats for the eastern gray kangaroo as

including semi-arid mallee scrub, woodland, and forest. The densities

of eastern gray kangaroos are frequently low in the more arid portion

of their potential range, where they may be confined to narrow belts of

woodland bordering watercourses, and are sometimes high elsewhere. The

1991 density of gray kangaroos, for example, was estimated at about 1

per sq km in arid extreme northwestern New South Wales and averaged

more than 10 per sq km on about 125,000 sq km of habitat in mesic

northcentral New South Wales (NSWNPWS 1991b). Caughley, et al. (1987)

listed densities for eastern gray kangaroos that were greater than 20

kangaroos per sq km on some transects in extreme southcentral

Queensland as determined from 1980-1982 aerial surveys. The western

border of the range of the species has apparently moved westward since

European settlement because of the establishment of numerous semi-

permanent watering points for stock. Pastoral development is considered

to have generally favored the eastern gray kangaroo (NSWNPWS 1991a).

The action plan for the conservation of Australasian Marsupials and

Monotremes (Kennedy 1992) listed an increased geographic range since

European settlement for eastern gray kangaroos.

The red kangaroo is considered abundant over much of inland

Australia in areas receiving less than 500 mm annual rainfall (ANPWS

1991). The species occurs in mulga and mallee scrub, shrubland,

woodland, grassland, and desert. The species seems to prefer open

plains with scattered trees or shrubs. The 1991 density of red

kangaroos was estimated at less than 3 per sq km in central NSW but at

more than 14 per sq km on about 125,000 sq km of habitat in arid

extreme northwestern NSW (NSWNPWS 1991a). Caughley, et al. (1987)

listed densities greater than 20 per sq km for the red kangaroo on some

transects determined from 1980-1982 aerial surveys. Red kangaroos occur

in almost a continuous distribution but at varying densities over all

the pastoral areas and a large portion of the interior of South

Australia. The red kangaroo favors the open but better watered country

inside the 2000 km dingo-proof fence in lands used primarily for sheep

grazing. Red kangaroo densities are much lower outside the fence

(SANPWS 1991). The habitat changes associated with sheep grazing such

as closely spaced stock water, the production of shrubland with

ephemeral grasses, and the exclusion of the dingo are considered

favorable for the red kangaroo. The action plan for the conservation of

Australasian Marsupials and Monotremes (Kennedy 1992) listed an

increased geographic range since European settlement for the red

kangaroo.

The western gray kangaroo occurs across the south of the continent

from Western Australia to extreme southcentral Queensland but generally

not east of the great divide. This distribution generally corresponds

to the area where winter rainfall predominates. Caughley, et al. (1987)

listed densities greater than 10 per sq km for transects in a

relatively small [[Page 12896]] area of southwestern New South Wales as

determined from 1980-1982 aerial surveys. The increase of watering

points to aid the pastoral industry has been beneficial to the western

gray kangaroo but intensive agriculture has adversely impacted some

habitats. Arnold (1990), for example, indicated that the sizes of some

populations of western gray kangaroos have declined significantly where

habitat fragmentation to favor intensive agriculture has occurred in

southwestern Western Australia. Arnold (1990) further believes losses

to kangaroo populations will continue in these areas as the remnant

native vegetation continues to be degraded. The western gray kangaroo

occurs widely through the southern agricultural area of South Australia

and extends into the central pastoral areas. This macropod is

considered to be basically a dweller of scrublands and woodlands that

grazes at the edges of adjacent grasslands. That portion of the gray

kangaroo's range in the pastoral zone of South Australia has been

favored by management actions beneficial to sheep production. A portion

of the gray kangaroo's range in the southern agricultural zone has been

degraded or destroyed by extensive habitat destruction caused by the

clearing of native vegetation for agricultural and industrial purposes

and for urban and suburban developments (SANPWS 1991). The action plan

for the conservation of Australasian Marsupials and Monotremes (Kennedy

1992) listed no change to a decline of less than 10 percent in the

geographic range of the western kangaroo since European settlement.

The three species of kangaroos occur over a vast region of

Australia. Census lines representative of about 2.25 million sq km of

habitat are routinely surveyed by air to estimate kangaroo numbers.

Kangaroos are abundant in major portions of this habitat. As indicated

below, an extensive series of parks and reserves totaling over 400,000

sq km has been and is being established that will contribute directly

to the conservation of macropods throughout their natural range.

Current kangaroo populations could exceed those present before European

man arrived on the continent. This seems possible because kangaroos

have a reproductive capability efficiently attuned to the boom-or-bust

nature of the usual precipitation-range forage cycle on arid lands and

because kangaroos have been an impressive and inadvertent beneficiary

of the sheep management system that included the clearing of woodlands,

production of watering points, and the control of predators. Kangaroos

that inhabit vast areas of Australia in impressive numbers cannot be

considered threatened because of habitat and range conditions even

though much native range is severely degraded. Kangaroos do well when

habitats are in adequate condition due to sufficient rainfall and more

poorly when droughts occur. This cyclic or fluctuating pattern in

response to the vegetative condition of rangelands is a normal

periodicity in the arid land system and does not in itself comprise a

threat to the species.

B. Overutilization for Commercial, Recreational, Scientific, or

Educational Purposes

The intent of kangaroo conservation in Australia is to maintain

viable populations of the three species of kangaroos over their

existing range and minimize any deleterious effects that high densities

of these species could have on agricultural and pastoral products.

Management is an art in the arid-zone ecosystems that comprise much of

interior Australia where lands normally cycle in productivity in

response to a variable rainfall. Viable kangaroo populations need to be

maintained when range productivity and carrying capacities are low, but

kangaroos can represent an additional range resource when populations

and range productivities are increased. The ANCA and the Parks and

Wildlife Services of the individual states regularly monitor population

trends of red and gray kangaroos. The species are protected on National

Parks and Reserves that total about 5 percent of the continental land

area (over 400,000 sq km). Some of these lands represent important

kangaroo habitats. The species can be legally killed, but not

commercially utilized, by permitted actions in many urban, suburban,

and agricultural areas for damage mitigation reasons. A major

commercial harvest of kangaroos occurs in large designated areas of

Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia.

The magnitude and characteristics of this commercial harvest are

regulated by the ANCA as a wildlife management strategy. The total

commercial harvest is conducted within the framework of a harvest quota

system. The commercial quota is the maximum number of kangaroos of a

designated species that may enter domestic or international commerce

during a specific year after having been taken in accordance with

approved State management plans.

The assessment of this factor did not evaluate whether the

commercial utilization of kangaroos violates their protected status as

provided by Australian legislation or the legitimacy of the commercial

kangaroo industry. Those are Australian domestic issues. The Service

assumed that kangaroo products are a legitimate product of the land if

kangaroos are managed as a sustainable resource, and if Australian

society approves of the harvest. The Service's evaluation in particular

focused on whether the commercial enterprise threatened the existence

of kangaroos, whether the Commonwealth and State governments adequately

manage the kangaroo resource, and how harvest management responds to

changes in kangaroo populations, especially during droughts.

Kangaroo population levels are estimated from large-scale aerial

and/or ground surveys. These population estimates reflect the effects

of all forms of mortality acting on kangaroos. Commercial harvest

quotas are determined from estimates of the living population and are

intended to regulate the harvest which is the principle human-caused

form of mortality. The commercial harvesting of kangaroos is directly

controlled through the licensing of shooters and their operations.

The population surveys are accomplished during winter (June-

August), annually in South Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland

and triennially in Western Australia. The raw data from surveys

represent index values that can be compared to develop trends, or they

can be expanded by the use of suitable correction factors to provide

estimates of kangaroo populations. Correction factors strive to account

for differences in the behavior of kangaroo species regarding their

sightability and the ability to view kangaroos in different habitats.

Research is ongoing to further enhance the quality of surveys and

correction factors. In Western Australia, where aerial surveys are only

accomplished at 3-year intervals, population status in the intervening

years is assessed from monthly reports of the commercial harvest, the

intermittent aerial surveys and ground surveys and patrols by

appropriate staff (WADCLM 1991a and 1991b).

Harvest quotas are determined on the basis of population

information, estimates of habitat quality, and the perceived or

estimated requirements for damage mitigation. Conservation interests

are considered to drive the establishment of harvest quotas because

quotas are usually fixed as conservative proportions of the estimated

populations. Individual States could temporarily set quotas at high

rates if their stated management goal was to [[Page 12897]] reduce

statewide or localized kangaroo populations to more sustainable levels.

Tables 1-9 provide population estimates and data about the

commercial harvest of kangaroos in Western Australia, South Australia,

New South Wales, and Queensland. Population estimates, except for South

Australia, usually include the mean and the standard error, which is a

measure of the variance around the mean. Population estimates and data

about the commercial harvest of red and western gray kangaroos from the

Commercial utilization areas (CUAs) of Western Australia, from 1987-

1993, are listed in Tables 1 and 2. Population data within the CUAs are

only collected at 3-year intervals in Western Australia so status and

trend data are weaker than in the other three states. Red kangaroo

populations were apparently similar in 1987 and 1990 and significantly

reduced in 1993, and populations of western gray kangaroos seemed

increased in 1990 and significantly reduced in 1993. Australian

authorities believe the reduced estimates of kangaroo populations in

1993 could be sampling anomalies, but this will remain unknown until

additional population surveys have been conducted. Harvest quotas for

red and western gray kangaroos in 1994 are each about 15 percent of the

mean populations estimated in 1993. Because the commercial kill is

consistently less than the commercial quota, it is expected that the

1994 harvest will be less than 15 percent of the estimated 1993

populations in Western Australia.

Table 1.--Population Estimates and Data About the Commercial Harvest of Red Kangaroos From Western Australia

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Population estimate Percent

(mean +/-SE) (total Commercial Commercial males in

survey area) quota kill kill

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987............................................ 2,335,90017

7,500 200,000 150,462 58.4

1988............................................ NA 230,000 216,834 56.8

1989............................................ NA 290,000 186,042 58.0

1990............................................ 2,365,50016

5,600 290,000 224,423 58.6

1991............................................ NA 290,000 186,749 55.2

1992............................................ NA 350,000 107,605 50.1

1993............................................ 1,362,70090

,200 350,000 139,833 47.8

1994............................................ NA 220,000 NA NA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table 2.--Population Estimates and Data About the Commercial Harvest of Western Gray Kangaroos From Western

Australia

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Population estimate Percent

(mean +/-SE) (total Commercial Commercial males in

survey area) quota kill kill

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987............................................ 691,000167,

500 45,000 40,092 55.1

1988............................................ NA 45,000 29,061 55.2

1989............................................ NA 45,000 28,355 53.0

1990............................................ 1,069,10014

5,600 45,000 36,868 56.8

1991............................................ NA 45,000 38,043 58.4

1992............................................ NA 65,000 46,694 57.1

1993............................................ 433,500170,

900 65,000 47,070 NA

1994............................................ NA 60,000 NA NA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Population estimates and data about the commercial harvest of red

and western gray kangaroos from the commercial utilization area of

South Australia, from 1987-1993, are listed in Table 3 and 4. Estimates

of red kangaroo populations may not differ significantly at least from

1988-1993, and populations of the western gray kangaroo may be greater

in 1992 and 1993 than in some of the earlier years. The 1993 commercial

harvest of red kangaroos totaled 15 percent and that of western gray

kangaroos totaled about 9 percent of the estimated 1993 populations,

and the 1994 harvest quota totaled 19 percent and 14 percent,

respectively, of the 1993 population estimates.

Table 3.--Population Estimates and Data for the Commercial Harvest of Red Kangaroos From South Australia

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percent

Population estimate Commercial Commercial males in

(mean +/- SE) quota kill kill

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987............................................ \1\963,000 180,000 100,507 \2\NA

1988............................................ 1,491,900 146,000 118,232 NA

1989............................................ 1,428,500 260,400 124,173 NA

1990............................................ 1,950,000 276,300 172,793 NA

1991............................................ 1,669,100 408,600 213,628 NA

1992............................................ 1,647,400 317,700 219,338 NA

1993............................................ 1,483,700 290,400 227,056 55

1994............................................ NA 286,500 NA NA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\Population estimates that ANCA has received from South Australia do not include standard errors.

\2\Information is unavailable about the sex ratios of kangaroos killed in South Australia, except for 1993.

[[Page 12898]]

Table 4.--Population Estimates and Data for the Commerical Harvest of Western Gray Kangaroos From South

Australia

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commercial Percent

Population estimate harvest Commercial males in

(mean +/- SE) quota kill kill

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987............................................ \1\208,000 30,900 14,849 \2\NA

1988............................................ 222,600 31,700 13,778 NA

1989............................................ 253,200 33,000 11,546 NA

1990............................................ 193,900 36,850 18,593 NA

1991............................................ 272,600 31,700 14,533 NA

1992............................................ 358,100 35,500 18,999 NA

1993............................................ 380,800 48,600 32,798 67

1994............................................ NA 55,600 NA NA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\Population estimates that ANCA has received from South Australia do not include standard errors.

\2\Information is unavailable about the sex ratio of kangaroos killed in South Australia, except for 1993.

Population estimates and data about the commercial harvest of red,

western gray, and eastern gray kangaroos from the commercial

utilization areas of New South Wales, from 1987-1993, are listed in

Tables 5 to 7. Populations of red kangaroos apparently increased to

1991 and have diminished since that time, possibly in response to

locally severe drought conditions. The commercial kill in 1993 was

about 13 percent of the 1993 population and the 1994 harvest quota is

about 18 percent of the 1993 population estimate. The pattern of

population change of western gray kangaroos also suggests a population

increase to 1991 and a decrease since that time. The 1993 commercial

kill was about 10 percent of the population estimated in 1993 and the

1994 commercial quota was set at about 21 percent of the 1993

population estimate. Populations of the eastern gray kangaroo on the

Western Plains also increased to 1991 and have apparently diminished

since that year. The 1993 commercial harvest totaled about 12 percent

of the 1993 population estimate. The 1994 harvest quota has been set at

27 percent of the 1993 population estimate.

Table 5.--Population Estimates and Data for the Commercial Harvest of Red Kangaroos From New South Wales

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commercial Percent

Population estimate harvest Commercial males in

(mean +/-SE) quota kill kill

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987........................................... 2,777,00018

9,400 313,000 270,467 \1\NA

1988............................................ 3,440,00021

7,000 354,000 218,086 NA

1989............................................ 4,101,00032

3,200 487,000 297,029 NA

1990............................................ 4,499,00025

4,200 626,000 377,155 NA

1991............................................ 4,755,00028

9,500 706,000 495,986 NA

1992............................................ 3,384,90029

9,300 956,000 412,189 NA

1993............................................ 2,759,80018

1,700 598,800 359,820 NA

1994............................................ NA 483,850 NA NA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\NSW does not calculate percent males on a regular basis, as they have found that it varies greatly due to

shooter preference--averaging 70% but varying from 50-90%.

Table 6.--Population Estimates and Data for the Commerical Harvest of Western Gray Kangaroos From New South

Wales

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commercial Percent

Population estimate harvest Commercial males in

(mean +/-SE) quota kill kill

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987............................................ 741,50061,9

08 75,000 62,926 \1\NA

1988............................................ 616,00048,5

46 105,000 72,786 NA

1989............................................ 940,00078,9

52 95,000 67,253 NA

1990............................................ 1,296,00093

,632 152,000 83,708 NA

1991............................................ 1,391,70011

8,624 220,000 106,629 NA

1992............................................ 1,320,00010

8,966 327,700 117,994 NA

1993............................................ 1,250,00078

,423 307,800 129,378 NA

1994............................................ NA 268,050 NA NA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\NSW does not calculate percent males on a regular basis, as they have found that it varies greatly due to

shooter preference--averaging 70% but varying from 50-90%.

Table 7.--Population Estimates and Data for the Commercial Harvest of Eastern Gray Kangaroos From New South

Wales

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commercial Percent

Population estimate harvest Commercial males in

(mean +/- SE) quota kill kill

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987............................................ 1,906,50015

9,192 189,000 140,061 \1\NA

[[Page 12899]]

1988............................................ 1,442,00011

3,654 271,000 130,335 NA

1989............................................ 2,007,00016

8,548 222,000 136,073 NA

1990............................................ 2,755,00019

8,968 394,000 170,766 NA

1991............................................ 2,957,00025

2,076 584,000 253,791 NA

1992............................................ 2,683,00022

1,434 790,300 264,447 NA

1993............................................ 2,440,00015

3,077 757,000 284,344 NA

1994............................................ NA 657,200 NA NA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\NSW does not calculate percent males on a regular basis, as they have found that it varies greatly due to

shooter preference--averaging 70% but varying from 50-90%.

Population estimates and data about the commercial harvest of red

and eastern gray kangaroos from the commercial utilization areas of

Queensland, from 1987-1993, are listed in Tables 8 and 9. Recent

population trends are unclear in the data of Table 8 and 9 because two

different techniques have been used to estimate populations.

Queensland, from 1984-1992, annually surveyed over 500,000 sq km of

habitat in the pastoral zone by fixed-wing (FW) aircraft and, since

1991, has surveyed selected 0.5 by 0.5 degree blocks by helicopters

(Hel). Surveys from FW aircraft seem to consistently produce low

estimates of kangaroo populations in woodland habitats, such as the

190,000 sq km of mulga woodlands in southcentral Queensland. Presumably

the ``Caughley correction factors'' developed in the sparsely vegetated

zones of western New South Wales are not adequate multipliers for

estimating kangaroo populations in the woodland habitats of

southcentral Queensland. Data in Table 8 suggest that the population of

red kangaroos may have diminished since 1991, presumably because of

locally severe drought conditions, and that 1993 populations of eastern

gray kangaroos may also be diminished from 1991 levels. The commercial

kill of red kangaroos in 1993 was about 20 percent of the 1993

population estimate and the commercial quota for 1994 is about 20

percent of the 1993 population estimate. The 1993 commercial kill of

eastern gray kangaroos was about 12 percent of the 1993 population

estimate and the 1994 commercial quota has been set at about 15 percent

of the 1993 population estimate (Table 9).

Table 8.--Population Estimates and Data for the Commercial Harvest of Red Kangaroos From Queensland

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commercial Percent

Population estimate harvest Commercial males in

(mean +/- SE) quota kill kill

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987 (FW)....................................... \1\1,476,800102,100 375,000 365,138 75

1988 (FW)....................................... \1\1,758,100145,100 320,000 359,985 77

1989 (FW)....................................... \1\1,538,500121,700 480,000 473,985 66

1990 (FW)....................................... \1\1,817,300176,000 480,000 476,636 67.5

1991 (FW)....................................... \1\1,136,400146,300 480,000 471,643 \2\NA

1991 (Hel)...................................... \3\4,630,000 ........... ........... ...........

1992 (FW)....................................... \1\1,328,80094,468 600,000 570,885 61.5

1992 (Hel)...................................... \4\3,070,000910,000 ........... ........... ...........

1993 (Hel)...................................... \5\2,960,000950,000 600,000 595,488 55.5

1994 (Hel)...................................... ....................... 600,000 ........... ...........

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\Fixed Wing estimates have been corrected using Caughley Correction Factors for Habitat but have not been

corrected for temperature.

\2\ANCA does not have this data for 1991.

\3\Estimate received from the 1992 Quota application.

\4\Estimate received from the 1993 Quota application.

\5\Estimate received from the 1994 Quota application.

Table 9.--Population Estimates and Data for the Commercial Harvest of Eastern Gray Kangaroos From Queensland

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commercial Percent

Population estimate harvest Commercial males in

(mean +/- SE) quota kill kill

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987 (FW)....................................... \1\3,341,200176,700 1,300,000 1,231,889 79

1988 (FW)....................................... \1\2,916,700192,600 1,300,000 1,292,196 79

1989 (FW)....................................... \1\2,598,500172,300 1,500,000 1,143,314 66

1990 (FW)....................................... \1\2,278,300232,000 1,500,000 1,097,890 62.5

1991 (FW)....................................... \1\1,736,900155,600 1,300,000 1,017,086 \2\NA

1991 (Hel)...................................... \3\10,280,000 ........... ........... ...........

1992 (FW)....................................... \1\2,782,400184,700 1,500,000 919,234 62.5

1992 (Hel)...................................... \4\10,310,0002,670,000 1,500,000 989,578 58.1

[[Page 12900]]

1994............................................ ....................... 1,250,000 ........... ...........

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\Fixed Wing estimates have been corrected using Caughley Correction Factors for Habitat but have not been

corrected for temperature. Caughley correction factors for gray kangaroos are known to give very conservative

estimates of total population numbers. They are maintained in the publicly published figures to enable

comparisons in population trends with the earlier published data for gray kangaroos until an agreed revised

set of correction factors is published for the species.

\2\ANCA does not have this data for 1991.

\3\Estimate received from the 1992 Quota application.

\4\Estimate received from the 1993 Quota application.

\5\Estimate received from the 1994 Quota application.

The total national commercial quota in 1992 for red and gray

kangaroos in the commercial utilization areas was 4,942,000, which was

about 19 percent of the estimated 1992 red and gray kangaroo population

of 26.2 million (using the estimates developed for Queensland from 1992

helicopter counts, for New South Wales and South Australia from 1992 FW

surveys, and for Western Australia from 1990 FW surveys). The 1992

commercial kill was 2,676,000, which was 54 percent of the commercial

quota and about 10 percent of the presumed 1992 population estimate.

The total national commercial quota in 1993 for red and gray kangaroos

was 4,517,600 which was about 21 percent of the estimated 1993 red and

gray kangaroo population of 21.4 million in the CUAs (data from 1993

helicopter counts in Queensland, and 1993 FW counts in South Australia,

New South Wales, and Western Australia). The 1993 commercial kill was

2.8 million which was 62 percent of the 1993 commercial quota and 13

percent of the 1993 population estimate. The 1994 national commercial

quota is set at 3.88 million, which is about 18 percent of the 1993

population estimate. An additional 153,000 red and gray kangaroos were

reported killed during 1993 for damage mitigation purposes outside the

commercial harvest quotas. This damage mitigation kill was an unknown

small percent of the continental population of red and gray kangaroos

(153,000 equals about 0.7 percent of the 1993 presumed population of

red and gray kangaroos within the CUAs which comprise a fraction of the

continental land area).

Queensland has received criticism in past years for its harvest

management system. That system has been substantially modified in

recent years (QNPWS 1992). Queensland now establishes its kangaroo

harvest quota in the following manner. Survey data from aerial and

ground surveys are utilized to provide population estimates. A

conservative possible harvest quota is formulated from this mid-winter

survey information. This statewide potential quota for the state, by

management areas, is reviewed by the Area Director, Regional Director,

and the Manager-Wildlife Management, Queensland. The potential quota is

then passed before the Macropod Management Committee (a State

Ministerial committee) to receive public input from the rural

community, pastoralists, graziers, shooters, dealers, the Department of

Primary Industries, conservation groups, and politicians whose

constituents are impacted by kangaroos. The committee advises on the

acceptability of the proposed quota and may make recommendations about

the quota. The proposed quota and the comments are passed to the

Queensland Minister, who determines the final quota to be submitted to

the Commonwealth for approval. Commonwealth approval may be gained

after the proposal has been reviewed by ANCA and the Commonwealth

Minister's Scientific Advisory Committee on Kangaroos.

The CUA in South Australia occurs on about 282,000 sq km of

pastoral landscape, which comprises about 28 percent of the State's

land area. The harvest quota in South Australia is based on the winter

aerial survey of the CUA and is developed for each of 10 kangaroo

management zones within the CUA. The commercial quota is set as a best

estimate of the maximum number of each species that may need to be

killed to contain deleterious effects on stock, crops, or property

without jeopardizing the viability of kangaroo populations (SANPWS

1991). The proposed quota has to be approved by the appropriate South

Australian Minister before its submission to the Commonwealth. The

Commonwealth Minister subjects the proposed quota to review by ANCA and

the Minister's Scientific Advisory Committee on Kangaroos before any

implementation of the kangaroo management program can occur.

The CUA covers the western two-thirds of New South Wales. The

harvest quota in the State is based on population estimates from the

most recent annual surveys, recent trends in population numbers and

distribution, harvest monitoring data, information about nonharvest

mortality and noncommercial harvest mortality, climatic conditions over

at least the past year, current land use, the proportion of the

population not subject to damage mitigation culling, and the demand for

agricultural damage mitigation culling (NSWNPWS 1991a). The proposed

quota is subject to peer review by the NSW Kangaroo Management Review

Committee and must be approved by the appropriate New South Wales

Minister before its submission to the Commonwealth. The quota must be

approved by the Commonwealth Minister, after its review by ANCA and the

Minister's Scientific Advisory Committee on Kangaroos, before the

harvest program can be implemented.

The CUA may total about one-half of Western Australia. Parks,

reserves, and State forest lands occupied by and providing protective

status to western gray and/or red kangaroos may total 100,000 sq km

within this vast state. The harvest quota in Western Australia is

conservatively established on the basis of current population trends,

seasonal conditions, the review of previous annual harvests, the

proportion of the habitat and population not subject to harvesting,

current land use practices, and the significance of the take outside

the commercial quota (WADCLM 1991a and 1991b). The proposed quota is

subject to peer review by the Kangaroo Management Advisory Committee

and must be approved by the appropriate Western Australian Minister

before being forwarded to the Commonwealth Government. The Commonwealth

Minister (after review by ANCA and the Minister's Scientific

[[Page 12901]] Advisory Committee on Kangaroos) must approve the quota

before the harvest program can be implemented.

Individual states have the capability to monitor their kangaroo

harvest. For example, Queensland has recently established a Macropod

Management System that is a new and large computerized database

containing information about shooters' records, dealers' records,

location of kill, date of kill, sex and species of kill, etc. The

capability to track harvest information helps managers assess whether

populations are being overharvested. A computerized database in Western

Australia, built on harvest data, allows for the analysis of total

commercial take by management area, trends in the sex ratio of the

commercial take, trends in the average weight of kangaroos in the

commercial take, and trends in the commercial take per unit effort

(WADCLM 1991a and 1991b). South Australia is collecting, but not yet

utilizing in its kangaroo management program, monitoring data about

catch per unit of effort, sex ratio of the kill, and average weight of

carcass by sex for each species (SANPWS 1991). New South Wales obtains

specific information from trappers, chillers, and faunal dealers to

determine catch per unit effort, average carcass weight by sex per

species, sex ratios of kill, and the distribution of the harvest. This

information is available by management zone and on a statewide basis

(NSWNPWS 1991a).

The monitoring and assessment of population trends and harvest

returns as specified in the approved kangaroo management programs are

intended to ensure the conservation of the species.

The State and Commonwealth governments have the capability to

police and regulate the commercial take of kangaroos. State governments

control illegal trade in kangaroos through regular and random field

inspections of shooter and dealer operations and checks on the returns

required from them. Law enforcement staff may also respond to public

reports of illegal activities. The primary focus in law enforcement

activities at the State or Territory level is to detect illegal trade

long before material may be proposed for export. This is feasible

because of the relatively small number of people involved in the

commercial kangaroo industry and the difficulties involved in obtaining

and dealing in large quantities of kangaroo meat or skins in a

secretive manner. There is also little incentive to become involved in

illegal activities when quotas are not being reached (on average only

about 70 percent of the total quotas have been taken in recent years)

(ANPWS in litt.).

The Commonwealth capability to control illegal trade rests

primarily with Customs officers and the Australian Federal Police.

Checks on permitted exports of kangaroo products by Customs officers

usually are restricted to the inspection of paperwork associated with

the export. Customs officers will conduct more detailed inspections and

enforcement activities where intelligence indicates that illegal

activities may be occurring (ANPWS in litt.). The Wildlife Protection

Squad formed within the ANPWS in 1992 is intended to coordinate

enquiries/investigations into allegations of illegal trade in wildlife.

Annual surveys are useful indicators of the comparative health of

kangaroo populations over time. Drought is the major natural event that

influences the numbers of red and gray kangaroos throughout the CUAs.

Annual surveys in New South Wales have been conducted for a sufficient

time to indicate the influence of drought on populations. Combined

populations of red and gray kangaroos in the CUAs of New South Wales

from 1981-1993 (with numbers of animals commercially harvested listed

in parentheses) are estimated as follows (population numbers are in

millions of animals): 1981=7.05(0.49), 1982=9.40(0.66),

1983=5.50(0.40), 1984=2.74(0.23), 1985=4.16(0.33), 1986=4.66(0.45),

1987=5.43(0.47), 1988=5.50(0.42), 1989=7.05(0.50), 1990=8.55(0.63),

1991=9.10(0.86), 1992=7.39(0.79), and 1993=6.45(0.77). The data,

unfortunately, provide an imperfect comparison because both census

procedures and evaluation areas changed somewhat during the evaluation

period. The trend seems clear, however: a population buildup to 1982, a

major population reduction measured in 1983 and 1984 in response to the

severe drought in summer 1982-1984, a gradual population recovery to

1991, with populations again declining in 1992 and 1993 as the sheep

range of New South Wales was again impacted by a severe drought in

1991-2. The commercial harvest (numerically identified in the

parentheses, above) is managed as a product of current kangaroo

populations, which seem ultimately to be driven by current or recent

rainfall conditions. Similar trends may exist for the other states, as

well, but the data bases are not as complete or as extensive as those

of New South Wales. For example, the data base in Queensland reflects

the original use of FW aircraft and more recent use of helicopters in

aerial survey efforts, and aerial surveys have been conducted only at

3-year intervals in Western Australia.

Nevertheless, population information for 1981, 1984, and 1987

(Fletcher, M. et al., 1990) clearly indicates that kangaroo populations

subject to harvesting can recover from significant droughts such as

occurred in Eastern Australia in 1982-1984.

The major problem in the sheep range is too little herbage and too

many herbivores. Efforts to implement a total grazing management policy

call for the elimination of feral herbivores and introduced rabbits

coupled with reductions in numbers of either sheep and kangaroos, or

both.

Skill is required to manage animal populations that tend to respond

to fluctuating environmental conditions. For example, New South Wales

managed its kangaroo harvest during the drought by monitoring the

progression of the drought and transferring harvest quotas from

northern management zones where the drought was impacting habitats to

more southerly management zones where drought effects were minimal and

kangaroo populations were little affected. New South Wales did not

reduce the notional quota for the second half of 1992 because the mid-

winter 1992 surveys indicated that kangaroo populations remained high.

However, New South Wales did hold back and did not allocate 15 percent

of the potential harvest quota in case extensive habitat deterioration

occurred after the mid-winter surveys were accomplished.

The Service finds that State and Commonwealth governments manage

kangaroo populations sufficiently well to ensure that red and gray

kangaroo populations are not being overutilized in mainland Australia

at this time.

C. Disease or Predation

There is no evidence that kangaroos at this time are threatened by

disease or predation. Predation by dingos may have been an important

limiting factor before the arrival of Europeans. Dingo predation has

been severely curtailed to enhance sheep husbandry, and kangaroos have

incidentally benefitted from this action. Mortality of red and gray

kangaroos, believed caused by an unidentified post-flood agent, was

observed in southwestern Queensland following the April 1990 floods.

The impact was short-term (ANPWS 1990), however, as regenerating

vegetation stimulated increases in subsequent kangaroo populations.

[[Page 12902]]

D. The Inadequacy of Existing Regulatory Mechanisms

Red and gray kangaroos have protected status in all parts of their

respective distributional ranges throughout Australia under relevant

State or Territory legislation. The responsibility for wildlife

conservation rests with individual State or Territorial governments

through their faunal conservation authorities (ANPWS 1991). The

decision to provide for a commercial harvesting industry is determined

by State or Territory government policy and legislation. The

Commonwealth has no power in law to influence how States and

Territories manage red and gray kangaroos except for those populations

subject to export or international agreements. The Commonwealth would

be powerless, for example, to directly intervene should any individual

State or Territory, with no export program, develop or operate an

intrastate program that was counter to the Commonwealth views of

conservation and management. The ANCA, however, is aware of the level

of protection provided in mainland States and Territories that do not

seek to export kangaroo products, and the Commonwealth is satisfied

that management in those mainland States and Territories (Victoria,

Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory) is in significant

agreement with Commonwealth standards of conservation and management

(ANPWS in litt.).

The management of kangaroos in New South Wales, Queensland, South

Australia, and Western Australia is based on legal protection and

regulations controlling the harvest of kangaroos. Each of these four

States has a kangaroo management program that includes provisions for

the establishment of harvest quotas and for the reduction of harvests,

if necessary, and each State has the responsibility to implement the

provisions of its individual kangaroo management programs. The largest

populations of red and gray kangaroos occur in the four States, and the

Commonwealth Government does have a mechanism to enhance the protection

of those populations. That mechanism exists through the Wildlife

Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act of 1982 (WP(REI)A).

The WP(REI)A consolidated wildlife controls into a single act so the

Commonwealth could more effectively implement the objectives of CITES.

Commercial trade is permitted only if it has been conclusively

established that the native species will not become threatened because

of the inadequate control of exports or through the import of some non-

native species. The Commonwealth Minister for the Arts, Sport, the

Environment and Territories can approve or disapprove of proposed

management programs for individual species after having been advised of

their merit by the ANCA and the Minister's Scientific Advisory

Committee on Kangaroos. State governments in Western Australia, South

Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland have each developed kangaroo

management plans that have been approved by the Commonwealth so that an

export trade in kangaroo products is allowed from each of those States.

The kangaroo management plan for each State has a monitoring provision

for both population trends and harvest returns to ensure that

conservation of the species is the foremost objective.

An approved kangaroo management program indicates that kangaroo

products for export must be from kangaroos taken in a specified and

approved manner. An approved kangaroo management program must contain

sufficient biological information so it can be evaluated. There also

needs to be ample proof that the biological information has been

considered in developing the program, and discussions must have

occurred between the State and Commonwealth governments so the

management programs attain acceptable standards. The management program

must ensure that taking in the wild will not be detrimental to the

survival of the species, will be carried out at minimal risk to the

continuing role of that species in the ecosystem, will occur in a

humane manner, and that adequate periodic monitoring and assessment of

the effects of the taking of specimens will occur to ensure the long-

term survival of the species.

The kangaroo management programs are generally based on multiple-

use tenets and are designed to ensure the continued survival of

kangaroos throughout their range. The programs assume that kangaroos

are successful native herbivores whose numbers frequently need to be

controlled. The programs are based on population monitoring and use a

licensing system to control the legal harvesting of animals. The

individual States have the responsibility to ensure that the harvesting

of kangaroos does not significantly affect the distribution and

abundance of the species.

The general objectives of the kangaroo management programs are to

(1) maintain viable populations of kangaroos throughout their natural

range, (2) minimize the effects of kangaroos on pastoral and

agricultural development, (3) maintain populations of kangaroos at

levels that will not produce long-term adverse impacts to habitat, and

(4) manage the species as a renewable resource. Implementation to

achieve objectives includes enabling legislation and an administering

organization with sufficient funding to accomplish appropriate

research, management, and monitoring activities.

The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service controls

the harvest of kangaroos through the National Parks and Wildlife Act

1974. All kangaroos entering commercial trade must be legally taken in

accordance with this Act, and it is an offense to kill kangaroos or

have them in possession without an appropriate license. Landholders

have to approach the NSWNPWS for a permit to kill kangaroos on their

property, and tags are issued if the killing is found to be warranted.

Shooters, commercial dealers, and tannery operators are each licensed

so controls exist at several levels of the commercial harvest. The

total allowable commercial harvest occurs within the framework of the

commercial quota. The development of the quota has been described in a

general manner under factor B above.

The legislation protecting and conserving nature in Queensland is

the Faunal Conservation Act 1974, which has been replaced by the Nature

Conservation Act 1992. The new Queensland Act has been implemented for

kangaroos, replacing the existing legislation. The Nature Conservation

Act 1992 creates classes of protected areas; designates classes of

wildlife; and provides for development of conservation plans to

protect, use, and manage protected areas, critical habitats, and

classes of wildlife. The Queensland kangaroo management program

describes how the activities of shooters and dealers are regulated, how

the size and/or composition of the population is to be monitored, the

harvest regulations and checks to prevent illegal harvest or over-

harvest, and other measures to ensure the conservation of the species.

The approval of Queensland's kangaroo management program by the

Commonwealth Government indicates an assurance that commercialism will

not threaten the survival of kangaroo populations throughout their

range.

Kangaroos and all native fauna in South Australia are protected

under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972. A permit is required to

take any animal for damage mitigation purposes and any kangaroo that

enters the commercial [[Page 12903]] trade must be tagged with a

species-specific tag. Quotas are developed after the direct monitoring

of populations on an annual basis, and individual properties may be

monitored through ground surveys and property inspections before

receiving a quota. Quotas are released in stages so management can

respond to changes in climatic conditions. Kangaroo shooters are

licensed to shoot on individual properties.

The Department of Conservation and Land Management has the

responsibility for the conservation and protection of all flora and

fauna under the Western Australia Conservation and Land Management Act

of 1984. The Department has authority under the Wildlife Conservation

Act 1950 and associated regulations to control the killing of red and

gray kangaroos. Landowners and their agents may take kangaroos non-

commercially for damage mitigation purposes in open-season areas.

Kangaroos can only be taken under a damage license specifically issued

to particular properties in non-open-season areas. The harvest is

monitored by using species-specific tags and by monitoring monthly

reports from licensed shooters and dealers. Population trends are

monitored on a triennial basis because of the State's vast area and

because kangaroo densities are frequently low.

Critics of the kangaroo management program in Australia cite the

incongruity of legislation granting a measure of protection to the

species and the presence of a commercial industry that is responsible

for the harvest of several million kangaroos per year. Critics also

state that few studies substantiate claims that kangaroos are major

depredators of range and agricultural crops, so that arguments that

kangaroos are harvested to reduce damage especially to range products

are specious, especially when sheep numbers remain too high for fragile

ranges. The Service believes that any perceived incongruity in domestic

laws needs to be resolved domestically and is not a reason for an ESA

listing decision. It is additionally not necessary for the Service to

address the argument that the commercial killing of kangaroos is solely

for damage mitigation purposes to make a decision on a listing status.

Kangaroos incidentally prosper at this time because of land management

accomplished for other purposes. Active kangaroo management essentially

only regulates kind and level of take so that overutilization does not

occur and so that sustainable populations are maintained throughout

their range. Regulatory mechanisms in place are adequate to perform

this function.

E. Other Natural or Manmade Factors Affecting Its Continued Existence

Kangaroo populations fluctuate in response to environmental and

climatic conditions. Appropriate wildlife management agencies routinely

evaluate kangaroo populations over a wide area and monitor current

harvest statistics to track population trends. This activity is

intended to provide a sufficient understanding so that harvest

activities, can be slowed or terminated if that becomes necessary. This

may be appropriate, especially during drought, when kangaroo

populations may become reduced and are most vulnerable to population

control activities.

There is great concern among critics that management programs both

for individual States and the Commonwealth are insensitive to the

plight of kangaroos during environmental stress periods as during the

1982-1984 drought. The perceived insensitivity at that time was an

apparent inability or unwillingness to reduce the commercial harvest of

kangaroos in what critics considered a timely manner during an

environmental stress period. The critics argue that demands from the

pastoral industry and the commercial kangaroo industry superseded

important kangaroo management decisions. The present concern with

insensitivity occurred because some important kangaroo habitats

experienced droughts during 1992 at a time when a record macropod

harvest quota of 5.2 million animals (including 4,942,000 red and gray

kangaroos) was established. The Commonwealth indicates (ANPWS in litt.)

that the determination of quotas during a dry period as during a normal

period is on the basis of estimated kangaroo populations.

Droughts are quite variable in their duration and distribution and

kangaroo populations do not automatically decline in response to dry

seasonal conditions. The 1983 harvest quotas were set at high levels

because kangaroo populations measured during the June-August 1982

winter period were still high. The actual harvest during 1983 was

considerably less than the actual quota and the quotas in 1984 and 1985

were maintained below 2 million animals as populations recovered.

Kangaroo populations have risen across Australia since that time

and quotas have correspondingly increased. For example, the 1991 mid-

winter kangaroo population in New South Wales was estimated at 9.1

million and the 1992 harvest quota in NSW was fixed at 2.1 million (23

percent of the 1991 population estimate). The mid-winter 1992 kangaroo

population in NSW (obtained while the 1992 drought was still ongoing)

was estimated at 8.04 million and a 1993 harvest quota of 1.66 million

(21 percent of the 1992 population estimate) was established. The 1992

mid-winter survey indicated that statewide the populations of red

kangaroos were diminished by about 40 percent (a statistically

significant reduction, P< 0.05) and gray kangaroo populations were

diminished about 8 percent (a statistically non-significant reduction).

The 1992 mid-winter survey also indicated that kangaroo populations in

central and southern management zones were little-changed from 1991

levels. The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, in mid-year,

consequently switched some harvest quotas from northern to more

southerly harvest management zones. The NSWNPWS also determined in mid-

year that 15 percent of the 1992 harvest quota would be held back and

not allocated during 1992. The NSW commercial kangaroo harvest during

1992, when a portion of the state was involved in a drought event,

totalled about 800,000 kangaroos during a year when the potential

harvest quota totalled 2.1 million. The kangaroo harvest strategy was

thus to actively adapt and modify management plans as a dry season

developed into a drought.

States have additional regulatory mechanisms to reduce actual

harvest to levels below the commercial quota. Licenses to take animals

may be amended to restrict the numbers taken in a particular area, to

limit harvesting to certain species, or to cease hunting altogether.

Thus, management may progressively restrict and then cease all

harvesting of kangaroos in response to declining populations. Following

the 1982-83 drought in New South Wales, a moratorium on harvesting was

applied to some of the worst affected areas to enable populations to

recover. Should a severe drought occur during the 1990's, States can be

expected to respond in an appropriate manner to changes in the kangaroo

populations. The ultimate assurance that conservation of the species

will be given primary consideration is the approval and review of

ongoing operations of State management programs by the Commonwealth

Government (ANPWS in litt.).

Control over the methods used to kill kangaroos rests with State

and Territory management personnel and is determined by relevant State

and Territory legislation. Thus, new harvest

[[Page 12904]] technologies that could threaten kangaroo populations

can not be introduced without governmental approval.

Summary of Findings

The Service finds that extensive kangaroo habitats remain in

mainland Australia, that management for pastoral industries may favor

kangaroo production, and that an extensive series of National Parks and

Reserves have been established (some of which are important to

kangaroos). The Service also finds that adequate kangaroo management

plans have been developed and implemented. The application of these

management plans has demonstrated their effectiveness in both drought

and non-drought conditions. Kangaroo populations are systematically and

periodically assessed, and population data, environmental conditions,

and public consultation inputs are weighed in the development of

harvest quotas. The harvest operation is found to be a licensed action

that occurs on individual properties at the request and permission of

landholders. Authorities within the States and the Commonwealth

government have the responsibilities and capabilities to monitor the

harvest so that overutilization will not threaten the substantial

kangaroo populations existing within individual States. Disease and/or

predation do not threaten these kangaroos species. The management of

kangaroos in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and Western

Australia is based on legal protection and regulations controlling the

kangaroo harvest. The Commonwealth has the capability to approve,

disapprove or require modification of kangaroo management programs from

those States wishing to export kangaroo products so a consistency in

planning and implementing management actions occurs within mainland

Australia. The States have the responsibility to regulate all aspects

of the kangaroo harvest, to provide adequate law enforcement, to

conduct appropriate management and research, to monitor populations

especially during drought events, and the States have the ability to

modify harvests if environmental or other variables unexpectedly impact

kangaroo populations. It is the present sufficiency in kangaroo

management in mainland Australia that causes the Service to find that

the action to delist the three species of kangaroos is warranted.

The Service's regulations at 50 CFR 424.11(d) allow a species to be

delisted by reason of extinction, recovery, or because the original

listing data were in error. The Service, with this action, delists

these three species of kangaroos on the basis of their successful

recovery because the best scientific and commercial information

available indicates the species are now not likely to become an

endangered species in the foreseeable future throughout all or a

significant part of its range.

The Service, with this notice, also dismisses on procedural

grounds, the December 20, 1989, petition filed by Greenpeace USA. The

Service has no mechanism to reimpose an import ban on these non-

endangered, non-threatened species from mainland Australia.

The Monitoring of Recovered Kangaroo Species

Requirements of the Act for the monitoring of recovered species

also apply to foreign species. Those requirements include the

implementation of a monitoring program to ensure that the species

continues to fare well after delisting occurs. The Service is primarily

dependent on input from the Commonwealth Government in the monitoring

of these recovered species.

Monitoring plans frequently address population parameters, the

distribution and well-being of the species, the condition of important

habitats for the species, and any new threats identified as relevant to

the species. The monitoring plan for the three kangaroos requires that

the Commonwealth Government provide an annual report to the Service for

each of 5 years. The first annual report is due March 1996. The

monitoring plan is listed below. All information provided by the

Commonwealth Government will be available for public review. The

Service, on January 27, 1994, received a monitoring report which

indicated results of the 1993 population surveys, and received

additional monitoring information on May 30, 1994. The following

presentation lists the monitoring question posed to the Commonwealth

Government and the 1994 information on each monitoring question.

1. Provide the most current population estimates for each species

within each harvest State using best technologies currently available,

and describe the current harvest quotas established for the calendar

year following those population estimates.

The 1993 population data for the three species, the commercial kill

that was reported in 1993, and the planned harvest quota for 1994 are

listed for each species in each state in Tables 1-9. There were no

changes in the procedures used to monitor kangaroo numbers in New South

Wales and South Australia in 1993. Nine monitoring blocks were

identified for ongoing annual helicopter surveys in Queensland. The

blocks will form the basis for future population trend analyses. The

1993 aerial survey in Western Australia followed in a general manner

the standard survey methodology used in the 1987 and 1990 surveys.

About 18 percent fewer degree blocks were surveyed in Western Australia

in 1993 compared to 1990. Some consideration is being given to

developing a systematic survey plan for conducting some type of annual

survey in the commercial utilization area of Western Australia.

Queensland continues to strive to standardize a systematic survey

procedure utilizing helicopters.

2. Provide details of commercial and non-commercial mortalities,

using best technologies currently available. The summary for a calendar

year is due in March of the subsequent year. The time lapse is to

ensure that summaries will provide data for the entire calendar year.

The extent of the commercial and non-commercial kill in 1993, is

summarized in Table 10 (data about the non-commercial kill is not

available for Western Australia).

Table 10.--Commercial and Non-Commercial Kill in 1993

------------------------------------------------------------------------

State/province Species Type Kill

------------------------------------------------------------------------

NSW................ Red kangaroos..... Commercial........ 359,820

Non-commercial.... 10,689

Eastern grays..... Commercial........ 284,344

Non-commercial.... 85,696

Western grays..... Commercial........ 129,378

Non-commercial.... 6,015

[[Page 12905]]

WA................. Red kangaroos..... Commercial........ 139,833

Western grays..... Commercial........ 47,077

SA................. Red kangaroos..... Commercial........ 227,056

Non-commercial.... 1,618

Western grays..... Commercial........ 32,798

Non-commercial.... 6,938

Qld................ Red kangaroos..... Commercial........ 595,488

Non-commercial.... 8,915

Eastern grays..... Commercial........ 989,578

Non-commercial.... 33,508

------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Describe any change in population or harvest estimation

technologies, including, where appropriate, how the Commonwealth's

Review Committee would deal with estimates using new technologies

resulting in significantly higher standard errors. Such a discussion

might include what sampling changes will be instituted to acceptably

reduce the standard error, or what ``alpha'' level will be used to test

for change in population or harvest, or how harvest quotas have been

more conservatively set, or what programs would be instituted to relate

estimates from new technologies to estimates using previous

technologies.

This point was not included in the proposed rule, and no

information was requested or provided in 1994.

4. Describe distribution of the species, using best technologies

currently available. The intent of this provision is to note any

significant change in the distribution of a species within a State with

suggested explanations of causes of change.

No perceived changes in the distribution of the three kangaroo

species exist for New South Wales, Western Australia, or Queensland.

The distribution of western gray kangaroos in South Australia may now

extend northward to approximately 31 degrees of latitude south.

Otherwise, there are no perceived changes in the distribution of the

species.

5. Describe the extent of lands set-aside for parks and reserves

that provide protected and useful habitats for kangaroos.

Minor extensions were made to Parks and Reserves in New South Wales

during 1993. Queensland added 6,974 sq km to its National Park System

in 1993 and these lands provide protective and useful habitats for

kangaroos. Western Australia added 3,394 sq km to its system of Nature

Reserves, National Parks and Conservation Parks. Additional arid and

semi-arid lands have also been added to the Park system in South

Australia and some of these lands are suitable but marginal kangaroo

habitats.

6. Describe changes in regulatory programs that impact the well-

being of the species.

The basic regulatory programs remained unchanged in 1993 in New

South Wales, Western Australia, and South Australia. The Nature

Conservation Act 1992 has been implemented for kangaroos in Queensland,

and replaces the Faunal Conservation Act 1974, National Parks and

Wildlife Act 1975, and Native Plants Protection Act 1930. The 1992 Act

provides for the protection of native wildlife and their habitats. A

fundamental principle of the legislation requires that the use of

protected wildlife must be ecologically sustainable. A draft ``Macropod

Harvesting Conservation Plan 1994'' was released for public comment in

December 1993. The new legislation provides for a comprehensive

approach to the conservation of protected areas and wildlife and will

enhance the conservation of all protected areas and species in

Queensland.

7. Describe new threats to the species.

No new threats to the kangaroo species were identified during 1993.

8. Describe progress towards the successful implementation of any

Total Grazing Management Policy (TGMP) that strives to balance the

forage demands of all herbivore consumers with available range

resources to enhance the conservation of range ecosystems.

In New South Wales, the concept of Total Grazing Management is

being marketed through Landcare Groups, Rural Organizations, and a

Commonwealth/State Rural Lands Reconstruction Program. The Department

of Agriculture and the Department of Conservation and Land Management

in Western Australia are cooperating on programs for rangeland

conservation which emphasize the limitation of grazing pressures by

commercial herbivores. In South Australia, the Pastoral Land

Conservation and Management Act 1990 provides an attempt to enhance the

conservation of range ecosystems. The major emphasis, at this time, is

on the monitoring of vegetation conditions, modifying sheep and cattle

stocking rates on the basis of current land condition, and the control

of feral animals to enhance land condition. The Commonwealth

Government, in association with State and Territory Governments has

initiated the development of a National Rangelands Strategy, which

among other things is intended to address the issue of managing total

grazing pressure.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the responsibility to

annually review the monitoring reports, to assess the continued

recovery of the species, and to conduct any other reviews it believes

may be warranted. The Service can additionally invoke emergency listing

procedures at any time in response to a significant threat to the well

being of any of the three species. Three alternatives exist after the

5-year monitoring program has been concluded. They are: (1) If the

species no longer meet the 5-factor test for recovery then they should

be relisted using the emergency listing procedures; (2) if the species

continue to fare well but threats are increasing, then the monitoring

efforts should continue; and (3) if the species continue to fare well,

threats are not increasing, and the 5-factor test is still met, then

the monitoring effort can be discontinued.

Effects of This Final Rule

A special regulation was published in 1974 regarding the red,

eastern gray, and western gray kangaroos that were listed as Threatened

in 1974. The regulation made it unlawful to import these species, or

their parts or products, into the United States for commercial purposes

until the Australian States could assure the United States that they

had effective management plans for the kangaroos, and that taking would

not be detrimental to the survival of kangaroos. [[Page 12906]] As

threatened species, individuals could be imported into the United

States, with suitable permits, for scientific purposes, enhancement of

propagation or survival of the species, educational purposes,

zoological exhibition, or special purposes consistent with the purposes

of the Act. On April 29, 1981, the Australian States met the conditions

for satisfactory management, and a special regulation was published in

the Federal Register (46 FR 3938) that made it lawful to import the

three species of kangaroos for commercial purposes provided the

products were tagged or otherwise identified as removed from the wild

in accordance with the management plans of the Australian States. The

Service published a final rule on August 1, 1983 (48 FR 34757)

permitting the commercial importation of kangaroos to continue.

The current action removes the mainland populations of these three

kangaroo species from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.

The effect of this delisting action will be negligible because the

restrictions associated with the Threatened classification have already

been largely relieved by the Special Rule at 50 CFR 17.40 (a). The

eastern gray kangaroo (Macropus giganteus, all subspecies except

tasmaniensis), the red kangaroo (M. rufus), and the western gray

kangaroo (M. fuliginosus) are removed from the list of Endangered and

Threatened Wildlife as codified in 50 CFR 17.11, with the publication

of this final rule. Consequently, none of the restrictions,

regulations, or prohibitions of the U.S. Endangered Species Act will

apply to these three species in mainland Australia, as is presently the

case.

The subspecies M. g. tasmaniensis is retained on the list of

endangered species in Sec. 17.11. No assessment of this subspecies or

of kangaroo management in Tasmania was undertaken in this evaluation.

The special rule in 50 CFR 17.40 (a)(1)(i)(B) which allowed the

import of eastern gray, red, and western gray kangaroos, including

parts and products of such wildlife which have been tagged or otherwise

identified as removed from the wild, in accordance with the management

plans of Australian States, into the United States without permits for

individual shipments, otherwise required by 50 CFR part 17(a), is

hereby rescinded. M. g. tasmaniensis is restricted to Tasmania, and

Tasmania has not prepared a kangaroo management plan for this

subspecies so the Commonwealth Government has not allowed any export of

M. g. tasmaniensis or their parts and products. The rescinding of

Sec. 17.40 (a) will therefore not be relevant to this non-traded but

endangered subspecies.

National Environmental Policy Act

The Service has determined that an Environmental Assessment, as

defined under the authority of the National Environmental Policy Act of

1969, need not be prepared in connection with regulations adopted

pursuant to section 4(a) of the Endangered Species Act, as amended. A

notice outlining the Service's reasons for this determination was

published in the Federal Register of October 25, 1983 (48 FR 49244).

References Cited

ANPWS. 1990. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service response

to the report ``Review of kangaroo management March 1990.'' Aust.

Nat. Parks Wildl. Serv., Canberra. 28pp.

ANPWS. 1991a. Australian National Parks Wildlife Service reply to

the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's concerns raised in its

Federal Register notice (vol. 58, no. 113) with regard to the

management plans of three harvested kangaroo species (Macropus

rufus, M. fuliginosus and M. giganteus). Aust. Nat. Parks Wildl.

Serv., Canberra, 13pp.

ANPWS. 1991b. Overview of background information for kangaroo

management in Australia. Draft document. Wildl. Monitoring Unit,

Aust. Nat. Parks Wildl. Serv., Canberra. 92pp.

Arnold, G. 1990. Can kangaroos survive in the wheatbelt? Western

Australia Jour. of Agric. 31: 14-17.

Caughley, G., N. Shepherd, and J. Short. 1987. Kangaroos: their

ecology and management in the sheep rangelands of Australia.

Cambridge Univ. Press, Melbourne. xiv + 253pp.

Fletcher, M., C.J. Southwell, N.W. Sheppard, G. Caughley, D. Grice,

G.C. Griggs, and L.A. Beard. 1990. Kangaroo Population Trends in the

Australian Rangelands, 1980-87. Search 21 (1):28-29.

Kennedy, M. 1992. Australasian Marsupials and Monotremes: An action

plan for their survival. IUCN/SSC Australasian Marsupial and

Monotreme Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, vii + 103pp.

Nichols, J.D., S.R. Singer, and J.S. Smith. 1990. Review of kangaroo

management, Australia, March 1990. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.,

unpubl. report. v + 71pp + Appendices.

NSWNPWS. 1991a. The New South Wales kangaroo management programme.

New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service., Sydney. 17pp.

NSWNPWS. 1991b. Proposed kangaroo quotas for 1992 for New South

Wales. New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service., Sydney.

24pp.

QNPWS. 1992. 1992-1994 management program for the commercially taken

macropds in Queensland. Queensland National Parks and Wildlife

Service., Brisbane. 13pp + Appendices.

SANPWS. 1991. The kangaroo conservation and management program in

South Australia. Part A. Management of the large kangaroos. South

Australia National Parks and Wildlife Service., Adelaide. 14pp + 13

Figs.

WADCLM. 1991a. Management program for the western grey kangaroo in

Western Australia 1992-1994. Western Australia Department

Conservation and Land Management, Perth. 11pp + 2 Figs. + App. A.

WADCLM. 1991b. Management program for the red kangaroo in Western

Australia 1992-1994. Western Australia Department Conservation and

Land Management, Perth. 11pp + 2 Figs. + App A.

Author

Dr. Henry L. Short, Office of Scientific Authority, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Washington, DC 20240 (703-358-1708).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

Regulation Promulgation

Accordingly, part 17, subpart B of chapter I, title 50 of the Code

of Federal Regulations, is amended as set forth below:

PART 17--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 17 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1361-1407; 16 U.S.C. 1531-1544; 16 U.S.C.

4201-4245; Pub. L. 99-625, 100 Stat. 3500; unless otherwise noted.

Sec. 17.11 [Amended]

2. Section 17.11(h) is amended by removing the three entries for

the ``Kangaroo, eastern gray'', ``Kangaroo, red'', and ``Kangaroo,

western gray'' under the section ``Mammals'' from the List of

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.

Sec. 17.40 [Amended]

3. Section 17.40(a) is removed and reserved.

Dated: February 24, 1995.

Mollie H. Beattie,

Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 95-5823 Filed 3-8-95; 8:45 am]

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