The tough but necessary task of ending kangaroos' lives

In Canberra, collisions between cars and kangaroos are all too common. And being the driver who inadvertently caused an animal pain can be traumatic enough, without also needing to consider whether to end the roo's life.

So we commend those people who take on this responsibility of deciding whether to shoot or save the injured animals, especially when those people are also devoted to caring for animals.

The fact that so few licensed shooters are willing to take on this role shows how hard it must be for those who carry out the work.

However, wildlife – mostly kangaroos – are regularly injured on roads in our region.

According to the most recent NRMA data, kangaroos were involved in 90 per cent of animal-car collisions on ACT roads last year. Most of the hits happened in July and August.

There were 66 collisions with kangaroos in the inner suburbs of Canberra in 2014, 22 in Belconnen, 19 in Hume, 17 in Bungendore and 16 in Red Hill.

More than 800 animals – including kangaroos, dogs, wombats, cattle and cats – were injured or killed on Canberra's roads last year.

While some of these animals are domestic, most are wild animals that are either killed outright, saved or euthanised.

Wildcare volunteer Diane Hinton, whose story appears in today's Sunday Canberra Times, is also a licensed shooter. She alone has euthanised up to four kangaroos a day over the past few months.

And while it's worthwhile warning Canberrans to be on the lookout for kangaroos, in reality they often jump out from the shadows at the worst possible moment.

The ACT government recommitted to its controversial plans to continue the cull of kangaroos in the territory in May and set a target of 5000 shooting deaths over the next two years.

While it's unlikely the politicians who decide to kill so many wild animals feel the same pain as those who shoot to end suffering, it must still be hard to figuratively pull the trigger.