Australians urged to to eat more kangaroos as population hits 50 million

Experts encouraging kangaroo hunts to reduce numbers

The kangaroo population in Australia is approaching 50 million (MARCEL MOCHET/AFP/Getty Images)

Australians have been encouraged to eat more kangaroo meat as a way of controlling the population, which is nearing 50 million.

Government figures from 2016 show there were almost 45 million kangaroos, nearly double the human population of Australia.

In 2010, there were around 27 million, with the huge rise in numbers considered to be due to environmental factors, with high rainfall resulting in more food for the kangaroos.

Experts are now encouraging Australians to hunt the marsupials in order to reduce their numbers.

Associate Professor David Paton, from the University of Adelaide, said Australians needed to embrace kangaroo meat to avoid wasting their carcasses once they are culled.

He told ABC News: "If we're going to cull these animals we do it humanely, but we also perhaps should think about what we might use the animals that are killed for."

He added: “We shouldn’t just simply leave them out in paddocks to rot or leave them in the reserves to rot.”

Professor Paton went on to warn a large kangaroo population could pose a threat to biodiversity.

“It’s not the kangaroos’ fault they’re overabundant, it’s probably we’ve just been too reluctant to take a stick to them, remove them out of the system sooner, to actually prevent the damage being caused," he said.