About 4,000 of the up to 9,000 kangaroos targeted by the cull had already been killed when Animal Liberation New South Wales complained the project should not have been started without a proper scientific evaluation of the area’s environment.

"It's a fantastic victory for kangaroos because for the first time a judge has made the decision on this instead of the Government," said Australian Society for Kangaroos spokeswoman Nikki Sutterby. The judge's order was issued on May 20.

An expert on eastern grey kangaroo populations in Canberra, Donald Fletcher, told the Australian Associated Press that the goal of the cull was to reduce the abundance of kangaroos in the area to allow more food for other animal species, and to prevent soil erosion.

He said large-scale culls were only performed in accordance with kangaroo breeding patterns, to reduce the risk to vulnerable joeys (young kangaroos) that might be orphaned in the cull.

Photo: Australian Society for Kangaroos