A 19-year-old man has been arrested and charged over the deaths of 20 kangaroos on the NSW South Coast.
Police called to Dress Circle and Headland Drive on Tura Beach, north of Eden, on Sunday found a scene of carnage, with multiple dead kangaroos lying on the road.
The kangaroos were believed to have been killed between 10.30pm and 11.30pm on Saturday, police said.
An investigation by detectives led to the arrest of the man on Tuesday afternoon.
He was charged with torture, beating and causing the death of an animal and was granted conditional bail to appear in Bega Local Court on November 26.
Bega Valley Inspector Peter Volf said in a statement on Tuesday evening that police would not tolerate acts of animal cruelty.
"We take incidents such as these very seriously and anyone who engages in activities such as these will face the full brunt of the law," he said.
Three joeys survive
Spokeswoman Elena Wewer from NSW Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Services said three joeys survived the alleged incident and now remain in veterinary care with local member Janine Green.
"All joeys are Eastern Grey Kangaroos," she said.
"The smallest one is a male and is approximately six months old, and has been named “Nullah”.
One of the surviving joeys.
"This joey was brought to Janine’s front door by police at 1.30am on Sunday.
"The two older joeys, currently unnamed, came into care later in the afternoon at around 4.30pm.
"The smaller of these two joeys is female and nearly nine months old.
"The other is a male joey around nine and a half months old.
"Both of these joeys were rescued near the scene of the incident.
"Janine attended the scene on four different occasions that day."
