Wildlife road strike
Kim WELLS (Rowville) (10:34): I rise to again highlight the distressing and cruel plight of kangaroos and other local wildlife that are currently being killed by vehicle road strikes in increasing numbers along Wellington Road in Lysterfield and Rowville. Since I first raised the kangaroo road strike death toll along Wellington Road during the last sitting week, many further concerned local community members and wildlife advocates have contacted me to express their deep concerns, not only relating to animal welfare but also from a road safety point of view. Sue Johnston of Sue’s Roos Kangaroo Rescue has kindly provided me with an update on numbers. For the month of July, 84 kangaroos were hit, killed or later euthanised on Wellington Road in Rowville and Lysterfield, bringing the total 2025 toll to 180 kangaroos and 17 wallabies. Local wildlife rescue heroes, including Sue and Vicki Clark, among others, are desperately pleading for help to stem the high kangaroo death toll. Again, a special thanks goes to those rescuers for their amazing work, including often continuing care of surviving orphaned joeys. Urgent road safety mitigation measures that are being called for include variable message signs, VMS, to warn drivers of frequent kangaroo crossings, permanent flashing warning signs, motion sensors and electronic virtual fencing to warn kangaroos of pending danger. These measures have been previously used successfully to reduce road strike kills on the road.