Kangaroos in plague proportions in drought-ravaged Queensland are increasingly invading towns in search of food and water. Credit:Dallas Kilponen "In the three towns we have several times had to arrange for culling by registered roo shooters but they don't shoot in town and they were having to go into people's yards to get them out of town so they could shoot them on the outskirts of town. "We're talking about 'roos taller than most men. We appreciate they are starving but you have to keep the little kids and the older people in the town safe." Cr Groves said the shire would apply to the federal government for up to $800,000 to erect approximately 55 kilometres of vermin proof fencing around the three towns, as well as around vital infrastructure such as sporting grounds, schools and cemeteries. "The plague numbers get out there and are damaging the infrastructure," she said.

Barcoo mayor Julie Groves said hungry and thirst kangaroos are posing a growing safety problem to residents of built-up areas of teh shire. "They are a native animal but we can't have them in town the way they are. They jump the school fences and they lie around in the parks. "It's an ongoing problem, sometimes the kangaroos in town they don't leave after the drought, they have feed and they get used to people and overcome their fear of humans but they are still a feral animal. "The bonus of the funding is this was one of the ways we could protect the people into the future." Cr Groves said a widespread culling program was undertaken across the shire by registered kangaroo shooters under the guidance of local police.

However, she said culling was restricted to certain breeds and only to males, meaning the females of the species were continuing to breed and the problem was escalating. She said graziers across the shire had been forced to relocate their herds south due to lack of food supplies and the increasingly hungry kangaroos were growing more and more aggressive in built-up areas, posing safety fears for residents. "I know the great majority of people think kangaroos are great but they become aggressive, the claws on their toes, people don't seem to realise they can rip you open if they jump at you and attack," she said. "That's why we took the step." Cr Groves said two airstrips in the shire had previously been fenced off due to safety concerns during take-off and landing for Royal Flying Doctor Service flights in the region.

"Emergency evacuations are extremely dangerous at the moment with the number of kangaroos," she said. "It's not very nice watching the flying doctor take off." Stay informed. Like the Brisbane Times on Facebook