White and grey kangaroos to be sold to prevent overcrowding at Bordertown Wildlife Park
White kangaroos are a popular attraction in Bordertown. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
In short:
Surplus kangaroos at the Bordertown Wildlife Park will be sold to prevent overcrowding and the spread of disease.
About 12 of the animals, including some rare white kangaroos, will be desexed and sold.
What's next?
A tourism company in Victoria will look after the relocated kangaroos.
Halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne, the Bordertown Wildlife Park is home to some of the most unique native animals in the country.
Among the trees, just off the Dukes Highway in the South Australian border community, kangaroos, some grey and some white, nibble on the grass and greet visitors meandering around the picturesque park.
These white roos, a genetic strain of the western grey kangaroo, have bred in the park since the 1980s.
About 50 white kangaroos have been born at the park since the 1980s. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
Tatiara District Council Mayor Liz Goossens said about 50 of the white kangaroos had been born at the fully enclosed park since they were introduced.
"A white kangaroo was given to the park by a gentleman who had brought it down from the SA – NSW border … they have been here for quite some time,"she said.
The big white kangaroo went on to become the founder of the white kangaroo mob. The first white joey was born in 1984.
The park was designed to house up to 18 adult kangaroos but is now home to 23 adults and up to seven joeys. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
Too many roos
While the park was only designed to accommodate 15 to 18 adult kangaroos, 23 adults and up to seven joeys now call it home.
Earlier this month, the council, which manages the park, voted to approve the sale of some of both the white and grey kangaroos to prevent any overcrowding issues or the potential spread of disease.
"We were approached by a tourism company over in Victoria that have purchased some [animals] previously,"Ms Goossens said.
Council communications and economic development officer Kelly Hutchinson said approximately 12 kangaroos would be desexed and sold, leaving plenty for people to visit in Bordertown.
"We will still have the western greys, we will still have the whites … there's a lot of different things here to have a look at," she said.
Kelly Hutchinson says about 12 white and grey kangaroos will be sold. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
A rare breed
Ms Hutchinson said the Bordertown Wildlife Park was one of the very few places in the country that had a white kangaroo breeding program.
"It is just a genetic strain of the western grey kangaroo, so it's not albino," she said.
"You only need to have one parent with this genetic strain for you to have joeys that come out white."
The Bordertown Wildlife Park is a popular stopover for visitors. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
White kangaroos are rare and are not seen in the wild often. A sighting in 2017 made headlines around the country.
Ms Goossens said the special native animals that called the wildlife park home led it to being one of the biggest drawcards for tourists to stop off and visit the town.
"Any tourist who comes to Australia wants to see a kangaroo, [so] to have the uniqueness of a white kangaroo is even more special," she said.