Unlike people in much of urban Australia, Canberrans are used to seeing kangaroos around the place, most days, in the wild and in our suburban neighbourhoods. We see them on morning walks and daily commutes, in our gardens and on the median strips of major arterial roads. We don’t have to drive out of our way to special reserves to commune with nature - much of our city is made up of these and we integrate them into our daily lives. Similarly, the drive home at twilight is often fraught with the risk of flighty roos darting across the road too late for the car to stop or veer.

Many Canberrans regard the cull as a necessary evil for the good of the natural environment, for other protected species, and for the kangaroos populations themselves, but many are also violently opposed to the killing of any native animals.

We allow this to happen because, for the most part, we like to think that a government takes its most drastic measures - killing kangaroos in large numbers - after careful consideration and consultation with the best available experts. Over the years, the yearly roo cull has been subject to legal injunctions, when animal rights groups challenge the cull before the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The challenge is invariably overturned, as tribunal members are convinced that the environmental benefits - the protection of various species and native grasslands - outweigh those of leaving the local kangaroo populations to burgeon, unchecked, year after year.

And culling via firearm isn’t the only option being considered. Results of a two-year trial into managing the kangaroo population via fertility drugs have recently been published, showing a reduction in the number of kangaroos breeding.

ACT Parks and Conservation Service director Daniel Iglesias said this week they believed it would be cheaper to rely on the fertility drugs over firearms in future.

"Potentially in the future by bringing reserves to sustainable levels if we have the fertility trial we may never need to cull again using firearms in those reserves," Mr Iglesias said

"It’s a big 'if' and the science still needs to be proven but if we can bring reserves to sustainable levels we can look to fertility to keep them there and hence not have to use firearms."

While information about the yearly culls and other measures to control the population is freely available, is the government doing enough to convince the general population that this is the best course of action? As an overwhelmingly well-educated population, Canberrans are most comfortable when led by fact on important issues. The local planning sector is already coming round to the idea that community consultation - early and often - is the best approach. Should there be more community consultation when it comes to protecting the natural environment that so defines our city?

The cull is generally presented as a fait accompli. But the voices that oppose - or are ambivalent about - the cull have much to teach us, if we could be given the opportunity to hear them more often.