Report by Steve Hart
It was almost 10 years ago that Robert Irvine was cycling along Cornish St early one morning and was astonished to be overtaken by a kangaroo. He wondered how many of them call Sunbury home.
Little did he know his fleeting thought would turn into a project that’s morphed into an annual event.
“I saw one kangaroo, then another, and as I looked there were loads of others. I thought ‘wow’, there’s a lot of kangaroos around,” says Mr Irvine.
That was in 2016, and a few weeks later he and a small team of volunteers got together one Sunday morning and counted 300 of them. It’s been an annual exercise ever since.
“I thought ‘well I’m just gonna sort of see how many there are’ and it was that first year I think we counted about 300, and I was quite surprised,” he says.
“Being the sort of person that I am I thought well I’ll do this every year at the same time, so it was the first Sunday in May. I would go to the same spot and note the changes overtime.
“Now it’s 2025 and I’ve got to know a lot more about where the kangaroos live, how they move or not move, and how housing has changed them.”
Mr Irvine is now getting ready for the ninth count of eastern grey kangaroos and is calling for diligent volunteers to help out. This year he’s added swamp wallabies to the count.
He puts the growing number of kangaroos – he counted 500 last year – down to the numerous bodies of water that have been formed, in part due to newer housing developments.
“A lot of people say we’re taking their habitat and that we’re pushing them out, but that’s not true not true at all,” says Mr Irvine.
“I think I only realised that this year because it’s very dry, but we have created permanent water all around Sunbury.
“There’s dams, there’s a reservoir. There’s containment areas for stormwater, but also Harpers Creek, Jacksons Creek, Kismet Creek, Blind Creek, now full all year.
“Jackson’s Creek flows all the time now, if you look back historically it used to dry up every summer going back 200 years.
“It dried up completely for five years. But Jacksons Creek has been changed and now supports willow trees, blackberries…It’s almost a European type creek because people don’t understand that a natural creek should dry.”
This year’s count is being held from dawn to 10am on Sunday 4 May.
“Counting requires a little bit more dedication than looking out the window and saying ‘there’s a couple out there’,” he says. “Volunteers will be given a map reference in which to carry out their count.”
Email Mr Irvine here.
