Targeted pig control success

Feral pig numbers have been reduced across 10,000 hectares of private land east of Taralga as part of a strategic control program in the Tablelands Livestock Health and Pest Authority.

The control project was a joint effort between the Tablelands LHPA, the Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Authority and 20 landholders on properties between Bannaby and the Wombeyan Caves.

Tablelands LHPA ranger, Grant Eccles says that while the project involved controlling all feral animals in the region, feral pigs were the main target.

"As this area has a relatively low pig population, the aim of the control work was to ensure we maintain the low-density numbers, as pig populations have the potential to double in a year," Mr Eccles said.

"The project accounted for 27 feral pigs over the past six months, most of which were trapped using grain for bait. This will result in reducing the pig population and interrupting their breeding cycle, which will minimise their impact on primary production and conservation areas.

"We also employed the use of a contract trapper who caught six wild dogs in the Taralga and Wombeyan Caves region."

Mr Eccles says there were enormous benefits in taking a coordinated approach to controlling pest animals.

"Rangers, CMA officers and landholders worked together to implement consistent and widespread pest animal control in the Taralga area, which is the best approach for both control and cost effectiveness," Mr Eccles said.

"The cooperation of the 20 local landholders was vital to the success of the project – we wouldn’t have been able to run the project without their support and involvement.

"While it is ultimately all landholders’ responsibility to control pest animals on their land, the LHPA assisted landholder efforts by working with the Hawkesbury Nepean CMA to source additional funding and resources to implement a wider control program."

Hawkesbury Nepean CMA catchment coordinator, Aaron Smith says the reduction in feral pig and wild dog numbers in these areas will greatly benefit the biodiversity of the region, as well as local landholders and the broader community.

"Pigs are highly destructive animals, they trample and uproot wetlands and soils, feed on crops and pasture and they damage farm infrastructure including fences and dams. They also carry diseases which threaten both native and farm animals," Mr Smith said.

Media contact: Suzie Robinson 6391 3720 / 0428 465 378