On Friday 22nd August, Weddin Landcare and Central West Local Land Services hosted a Field day focussing on Feral Pig Control on the Old Forbes Road. The day was well supported as many local landholders congregated to discuss the increasing prevenance of Feral Pigs in the Weddin Shire and explore various control methods. The group discussed Hog Hoppers, remote cameras, field monitoring, disease and various methods of constructing and designing traps.
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Jessica Marsh who is a National NRM Facilitator with Invasive Animals CRC in Orange was also present on the day. She provided lots of relevant information relating to feral pig control, the use of remote camera’s and other control technologies. Jessica said:
“It is a real pleasure to work with a group of landholders who are managing a problem like feral pigs before their impacts get out of control. If we can all work together and prevent full establishment of pest animals into new areas, the ongoing cost of management will be less and of course, the impacts from feral pigs will be minimised. This group should be commended on their pro-active approach, their willingness to learn and their cooperation - they are all in this together and they know it’s the only way to manage feral pig impacts successfully.”
Jason Neville, Senior Pest Management Officer with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service was also present at the field day. He stated that “Feral pig control is a difficult task. Feral pigs do not always leave obvious signs in the bush or on farms. At certain times of the year feral pigs can just graze like other stock and be quite secretive in their behaviour.
The best mind set to have when controlling feral pigs is persistence and patience, do not give up, sometimes trapping takes a little while to work”. Jason suggested that for effective management, a comprehensive plan needs to be developed to maximise the overall outcome, as outlined below.
Developing a feral pig management plan
This involves:
• Defining management objectives. Objectives are a statement of what is to be achieved, defined in terms of desired outcomes, usually conservation or economic benefits. Objectives should state what will be achieved (reduced impact) where, by when and by whom.
• Selecting management options. The management option is selected that will most effectively and efficiently meet the management objectives. The options include: eradication, containment, sustained management, targeted management, one-off action and taking no action.
• Set the management strategy. This defines the actions that will be undertaken: who will do what, when, how and where. It describes how the selected pest management options and techniques will be integrated and implemented to achieve the management objectives.
• Monitoring the success of the program against the stated objectives. Monitoring has two components, operational monitoring – what was done when and at what cost:- this determines the efficiency of the program, and performance monitoring:– were the objectives of the plan achieved and if not why not, that is the effectiveness of the program.
Kym Rogers is our local Biosecurity officer with CWLLS and he discussed different gate traps and poisoning techniques. If landholders are interested in more information on baiting or would like to borrow a gate trap from LLS, Kym can be contacted at kim.g.rogers@lls.nsw.gov.au.
Attendees were rewarded with delicious camp oven scones and billy tea. Thanks to John and Rob Johnson for their efforts in making the day successful and to the enthusiastic landholders who are keen to work collaboratively to reduce the local feral pig population. Thanks also to Jason, Kym and Jess for your expertise and valuable knowledge.
For more information on this issue please call your local LLS officer, Stephen Pereira on 0409 814182 or Weddin Landcare on 0421 888601.