Review of the management of feral animals and their impact on ...

5.12 Management <strong>of</strong> wild dogs
The <strong>management</strong> <strong>of</strong> wild dogs for biodiversity conservation will only be briefly
discussed here as <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> control is undertaken by agriculturalists to protect
<strong>the</strong>ir livestock. A variety <strong>of</strong> control techniques are available to manage <strong>the</strong> <strong>impact</strong> <strong>of</strong>
wild dogs. These include <strong>the</strong> famous ‘dog fences’ which aim to physically exclude
dogs from <strong>the</strong> livestock grazing areas, <strong>the</strong> laying <strong>of</strong> poison baits, as well as specific
techniques such as trapping <strong>and</strong> shooting to remove individual <strong>animals</strong>.
In <strong>the</strong> past, <strong>management</strong> <strong>of</strong> wild dogs relied heavily on labour-intensive techniques,
such as trapping, shooting, <strong>and</strong> ground baiting, with bounty payments being <strong>of</strong>fered as
an incentive to kill dogs. Much <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> control work was reactive, dealing with
problems as <strong>the</strong>y arose. Never<strong>the</strong>less, some strategic, preventative control was carried
out including <strong>the</strong> construction <strong>of</strong> district-wide exclusion fences.
Current <strong>management</strong> strategies focus on <strong>the</strong> objective <strong>of</strong> minimising <strong>the</strong> <strong>impact</strong> <strong>of</strong>
wild dog predation, not just on killing wild dogs. Aerial baiting with 1080 baits forms
a major part <strong>of</strong> most <strong>management</strong> programs <strong>and</strong> is primarily targeted at limited zones
adjacent to livestock grazing areas. Large coordinated campaigns have generally been
adopted, being more efficient <strong>and</strong> effective than small localised efforts. Bounty
payments have not been successful in reducing predation by wild dogs <strong>and</strong> are subject
to abuse.
5.13 Management <strong>of</strong> carp
Until recently <strong>the</strong>re has been no co-ordinated <strong>management</strong> <strong>of</strong> carp in Australia <strong>and</strong>
carp control has been undertaken predominantly by State Fisheries agencies. Several
national bodies (including <strong>the</strong> National Carp Taskforce <strong>and</strong> Carp Control
Coordinating Group) have now been established <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Murray-Darling Basin
Commission champions carp control through its Native Fish Strategy. Carp are a
declared noxious fish in New South Wales, South Australia, <strong>and</strong> Queensl<strong>and</strong> with
supporting regulations for possession, transport or release. Management has been
minimal in most cases, except for some new invasions where eradication has been
attempted.
Carp <strong>management</strong> has become an increasingly important issue in New South Wales as
knowledge <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> carp <strong>impact</strong>s slowly improve <strong>and</strong> public pressure is
applied. In 1998, a three year, $1 million Carp Assessment <strong>and</strong> Reduction Program
was implemented. This program aimed to develop <strong>the</strong> recreational <strong>and</strong> commercial
fisheries, research carp <strong>impact</strong>s <strong>and</strong> biology, <strong>and</strong> educate <strong>the</strong> general community
about carp issues. In <strong>the</strong> program, incentives were paid to commercial carp fishers for
<strong>the</strong>ir catch to <strong>of</strong>fset costs associated with establishing <strong>the</strong> fishery. In 1998, a statewide
carp fish-<strong>of</strong>f was organised to increase recreational take <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> species. This
project succeeded in removing 34 tonnes <strong>of</strong> carp across <strong>the</strong> state. Such projects as
mentioned above will not control carp numbers in <strong>the</strong> long-term, however <strong>the</strong>y have
helped develop a positive community attitude towards carp control <strong>and</strong> can be utilised
in an integrated control approach.
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