The ACT government has claimed vindication for its controversial culling of kangaroos on Canberra's nature reserves, releasing a new opinion poll which found 86 per cent of respondents agreed shooting kangaroos was appropriate.
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The government-commissioned poll of 603 people in the ACT last month found 7 per cent of respondents said they opposed culling kangaroos under any circumstances.
A similar poll in 2011 found 79 per cent support for culling and 13 per cent opposition.
Asked how humane culling of kangaroos was compared with other methods by which humans control wild animals, 60 per cent said "humane", 15 per cent said "very humane". Additionally, 10 per cent said "inhumane" and 3 per cent said "very inhumane".
Asked if they had been driving a car in the ACT and had a collision with a kangaroo in the past three years, 92 per cent said no while 8 per cent said yes. Of the drivers who reported a collision with a kangaroo, 63 per cent said it required an insurance repair claim.
The latest numbers bring the toll of culling since 2009 to nearly 11,000 animals dead.
Asked if they supported culling "for the conservation of grassland and woodland animals", 76 per cent said the were "very supportive" or "supportive" while 10 per cent said "unsupportive" or "very unsupportive".
On Wednesday, animal rights campaigners celebrated the end of the cull for 2015, after 1689 adult eastern greys and 701 joeys were killed on territory nature reserves. The cull licence allowed shooting until the end of July.
Asked how satisfied they were with the ACT government's current management of kangaroos, 65 per cent of respondents said "very satisfied" or "satisfied" while 11 per cent said "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied".
Asked how important it is to have kangaroos in Canberra's nature parks, 74 per cent said "very important" or "important" while 11 per cent said "unimportant" or "very unimportant".
Environment Minister Simon Corbell said the poll showed "strong support for our current kangaroo management practices", including culling and fertility control methods.
Asked how important was to develop and apply fertility control methods to kangaroos in Canberra, 76 per cent said "very important" or "important" while 12 per cent said "unimportant" or "very unimportant".
Territory and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury said the poll results showed Canberrans understand why kangaroo population levels needed to be controlled.
"It also shows that we have strong support for the steps we're taking to conserve our native grasslands – and protect the threatened species that live in them.
"These findings will give us a valuable insight into community attitudes towards kangaroos. The results will help us monitor kangaroo issues and improve our management and education programs."
Mr Rattenbury said this week he had felt personally confronted by online and social media activism opposed to the cull. Twitter and Facebook users have targeted the Greens member with photos and literature about kangaroo deaths.
He said a "disproportionate focus" was placed on the ACT cull when shooting took place around Australia.
Animal rights campaigners said this week the government had fallen short of its quotas for the cull because not enough animals were left in the nature reserves.
Protesters were present on at least four sites every night of the cull, which began at the end of April.
Coalition of Animal Protectors spokeswoman Robyn Soxsmith said protestors remained committed to providing "peaceful resistance to both the cruelty of the slaughter".
"For the last few weeks, it has been clear from the amount of shooting going on outside the reserves that the government was unable to meet its slaughter targets on the reserves," Ms Soxsmith said.
