Invasive species

In a recent fire emergency in Baringhup, CFA volunteers were confronted with a situation made difficult due to the rocky and hilly terrain. However, equally confronting were the many large mature wheel cactus plants on one of the properties they were working from.

A frustrating four-and-a-half-year battle of hide and seek with one elusive fox has finally come to an end within a fenced area safe-haven in north west NSW’s Pilliga State Conservation Area. The final predator, nicknamed ‘Rambo’, was outfoxed by a couple of floods and the project area has now officially been declared feral predator-free.

Lindsay "Linz" Johanssen. Buffel grass (Cenchrus Ciliaris) is not just invasive. Environment-wise, it is  utterly transformative ... Buffel thrives on being burned. Vigorous new growth follows subsequent showers of rain, so recreating (and episodically contributing-to), a new fuel load ... Buffel’s burn / rapid-growth rebuild / ready to burn again fire cycle will, over time, simply kill or destroy everything that is not protected or cannot evacuate ...

Our region is a hotspot for weeds. Our weather supports the growth and spread of all types of weeds, but some weeds are a biosecurity concern ... Rous County Council is the local weed biosecurity control authority.

Australia Rural & Regional News asks some questions about AWC's koala conservation projects and koala monitoring, and land and fire management of Andrew Howe, Australian Wildlife Conservancy Senior Field Ecologist and Peter Stanton, Australian Wildlife Conservancy Senior Ecologist.

Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) has secured $179,211 in new federal funding to assist in a three-part Koala conservation project at Curramore and Mount Zero-Taravale Wildlife Sanctuaries in Queensland ... Tim White, AWC Chief Operations Officer, welcomed the grant, saying it will help improve habitat, data and knowledge on Koala populations at both sanctuaries.

The battle against one of the most serious threats to Sunshine Coast native wildlife is about to resume. To protect native animals, Sunshine Coast Council is running its Coastal Fox Control Program, for the ninth year.

It is a new tradition on Australia Day in Bonalbo – cash prizes for the heaviest cane toad. The prize might only be $50 but it gets people out catching the toads that are then weighed before the official Australia Day award ceremony at the bowlo.

Last month marked the first time wild dog baits have been substituted for fox baits in Bounceback, a flagship program working to achieve conservation outcomes in South Australia’s north ... They replaced the fox baits normally used in their central and northern Flinders Ranges aerial baiting programs which covered National Parks and nine surrounding pastoral leases.

Emma Pritchard. Clarence Valley residents are being encouraged to hop into action this month to help prevent a devastating pest from spreading further across the region by participating in the Great Cane Toad Bust 2023. An annual national incentive, the event aims to raise awareness of the invasive species, to help control their numbers, educate communities to correctly identify them, and to ensure any cane toads captured during hunts are humanely euthanised.

Conservationists are feeling hopeful for the future of the endangered Kangaroo Island Dunnart for the first time since the 2019/20 Black Summer fires. The newfound optimism comes after a large increase in detections of the species within the feral predator-free Western River Refuge.

This intriguing book was launched in Warwick last week by Chair of Darling Downs-Moreton Rabbit Board (DDMRB) Lockyer Valley Regional Councillor Janice Holstein. It tells the Board’s story and that of rabbits in Australia. The DDMRB maintains the oldest and longest purpose-built, rabbit-proof barrier fence still in use in Australia, if not the world.

Health authorities are encouraging all Cape York residents involved in pig-hunting to take advantage of the free vaccination program for Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) ... there was heightened awareness of JEV on Cape York following the detection of the virus in some feral pigs in an area north of the Skardon River in June, and a further detection in pigs in the Mapoon area in September.

Steamy conditions made life tough for participants in the Hope Vale Pig Hunt on the weekend, as more than 100 people took part in the 19th annual event. Hunters weighed in 38 pigs, with an average weight of 49kg.

The Mary Valley wetlands will undergo a new round of monitoring as an ongoing record of how the area is faring following works carried out on Country ... This month, Cape York project officer Ben Ansell visited one of the wetland sites with Traditional Owner Ashley Lyall to determine the percentage of feral cattle footprints, pig damage and live vegetation cover in the area.

The NSW Northern Tablelands boasts some of the most rugged terrain in the state but is kicking goals when it comes to community and landholder engagement in a nil-tenure approach to wild dog control ... A total of 40 wild dog management plans have been developed across 3 million hectares – up from 2.5 million in 2019 – involving 2500 landholders committed to a shared vision.

Queensland Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the Feral Deer Management Strategy 2022-27 would help build capacity to control feral deer. “Feral deer numbers across Queensland are growing and pose an increasing threat to biodiversity, agriculture and public safety,” Mr Furner said.

“Construction on 24 kilometres of specially-designed predator-free fencing will begin in December. Once complete, we’ll start working to eradicate every feral predator from within it, before releasing locally extinct and threatened species that were once abundant back into Nungatta": Minister for Environment James Griffin.

An aerial cull of feral deer on the Fleurieu Peninsula culled more than 1000 deer from forests, farms and private conservation properties in September 2022 ... Aerial culling is the most effective landscape-scale tool currently available for rapidly reducing the impacts of feral deer.

Managing wild dogs is not easy work with community engagement simply not about the deployment of tools into the landscape by the people whose assets are threatened by incursions. According to Western Australian landholder Debbie Dowden, it requires human action, which means working within the complex dynamics of human nature.

South Australian pastoralists inside the Dog Fence will continue to benefit from the services of wild dog trappers, with funding for the trapper program guaranteed for the next four years ... The wild dog trapping program is open to landowners or managers inside the Dog Fence who have baited and still experience impacts from wild dog attacks.