wild dogs

The work of the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions will be strengthened by the Federal Government’s recent funding announcement regarding the National Pest Animal Management Coordination Program. The increased funding will advance the activities of the Centre’s National Feral Cat and Fox Management Coordinator Program and the National Wild Dog Action Plan and supports the Centre’s drive to reduce the $25 billion annual cost of invasive species in Australia.

A decade long study has found there is no evidence that lethal control to reduce livestock losses and for conservation of native wildlife in the southern rangelands of Western Australia is putting dingo purity at risk. The research found that lethal control did not accelerate hybridisation between dingoes and domestic dogs or have any impact on the genetic structure of the population in the study area over 11 years.

“Predation by wild dogs on threatened species can have a significant impact on local populations already under pressure from other environment factors ... Out of 144 koalas known to have been killed by predators in the study area, 117 were killed by wild dogs ... Wild dog attacks are leaving pet owners distraught and traumatised": Greg Mifsud.

Vast tracts of exclusion fencing for wild dogs across northern Australia are providing opportunities for the recovery of threatened fauna on rangeland grazing properties. University of Southern Queensland Senior Research Fellow (Wildlife Management) Dr Benjamin Allen said cluster fencing had expanded rapidly within Queensland with the area of properties behind predator proof fencing increasing from zero a decade ago to around 200,000 square kilometres in 2023.

Pastoralists and land managers can have complete confidence the information they record about wild dog activity, control and livestock attacks entered on FeralScan ® (including WildDogScan ®) is kept confidential and managed securely.

Current issues and challenges around wild dog management were under the spotlight as more than 50 operational, agency and research staff from around the nation attended a three-day symposium in northern NSW.

Scenic Rim Regional Council is set to put the bite on wild dogs with its biannual baiting program ready to roll out mid-April.  The program, which uses sodium fluoroacetate baits more commonly known as 1080, assists owners of larger land holdings in managing pest animals which not only pose a threat to native wildlife but also pets and other domestic animals.  

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.

The National Wild Dog Action Plan supports the conservation of protected dingoes in Victoria’s national parks whilst limiting the impacts of wild dogs on neighbouring properties. In response to an ABC 7.30 report on November 14, National Wild Dog Management Coordinator Greg Mifsud said 20 per cent of the state’s national park and state forests is being managed for wild dogs in the perimeter of the public estate east of the Hume Highway.

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.