community based feral pig control persistence & partnerships
TRANSCRIPT
Community Based Feral Pig Control – Success though Patience, Persistence & Partnerships
Mark Muir and Jo Wills – Lake Muir Denbarker Community Feral Pig Eradication Group
Lake Muir Denbarker Project Area
In 2010 the Group began providing trapping services to the Northcliffe Declared Species Group – in October 2016 the management committee endorsed an amalgamation of the two groups
Our aim
To facilitate the involvement of all landholders in the Lake Muir, Denbarker and now Northcliffe areas in contributing to the initial reduction of feral pig populations and the subsequent maintenance of low pig densities
Pre feeding of pigs prior to setting traps
Trapped pigs
Feral pig impacts in agriculture
• Photos courtesy – DBCA and Alida Parke
Road verge adjacent to private property, Northcliffe WA
Farmland, Denbarker WA Farmland, Lake Muir WA
• Feeding on pastures, crops and potentially preying on young livestock• Digging – in vegetable crops such as potatoes pigs have dug through more than 5 ha in a
night, rendering the produce unsaleable• Introduction of soil and water borne pathogens and transfer of disease• Attraction of recreational hunting activities
Drosera - sundews
Calandenia Harringtoniae –Harrington’s spider orchid
Spicospina – sunset frog
Euphrasia
Feral pig impact - threatened and vulnerable flora and fauna
• Photos courtesy – DBCA
• Predation on flora and fauna, particularly small mammals and plants such as orchids and sedges
• The spread of dieback and degradation of the aesthetic qualities in the landscape
Muir ByenupWetlands
• Photos courtesy – DBCA and Alida Parke
The RAMSAR listed Muir Byenup wetlands, a system of partially interconnected lakes and swamps of varied sizes, salinity, permanence and soil composition in an internally draining catchment. This area is used by the Australian Shellduck and Australasian Bittern along with thousands of other water birds. Vegetation communities in the wet flats are among the few remaining in non coastal parts of SW Western Australia and includes natural sedgelands and rare orchids.
Indirect feral pig impacts in the natural environment
Healthy reedia population Reedia colony collapse following historical feral pig incursion
• Photos courtesy – J Liddelow - DBCA
Heavy metal laden peat soils are particularly sensitive to feral pig incursion, with soil disturbance leading to irreversible acidification
Control techniques – prefeedingof feral pigs
Prefeeding is an important part of the trapping process, food needs to be attractive, plentiful and restocked regularly to keep pigs coming to the area.
• Photos courtesy – J Liddelow - DBCA
There are two commercially available baits PigOut and HogGone – to avoid non target species consuming baits the Hog Hopper feeder can be used
Photos courtesy – ACTA and Dr Peter Adams
Control techniques – baiting / poisoning
Basic design – practical and easy to construct, finding a place where the pigs will be comfortable is an important part of successful trap placement.
Control Techniques - Trap Designs – Figure 6 weldmesh trap
Control Techniques - Trap Designs
Traps can be made in many ways, preventing escape by securing them well and either enclosing the top or making it difficult to jump is importantGates may be held open by springs, released when the pig triggers a trip wire.
Photos courtesy – M Virgo - DBCA
The door assembly may be fitted into various trap styles – camera monitoring feeds images to a mobile phone and the gate can be remotely activated once pigs are inside
Photos courtesy – Dr P Adams
Trap Designs – Matlock Gate System
Funding trends and on ground results …
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20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
200,000
Community Funding Local Government State Govt Agencies DSG Funding
Federal NRM State NRM Northcliffe
Sources of Funding for Feral Pig Control
Northcliffe funding was managed by Warren Catchment Council until 2016 and therefore sources of funding are not identifiable
Funding trends and on ground results …
Feral Pig Dispatches
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Northcliffe 184 217 183 124 128 49 49 47 66
Lake Muir 94 95 77 52 46 110 81 149 169 169 117 118 97 89 77 42 36 54
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Northcliffe 561 576 273 1178 1233 550 658 835 642
Lake Muir 1160 1136 1300 1834 1571 1468 1587 1917 1228 920 741 852
01000200030004000 Hours of on ground work
Dispatch locations - 2003 , 2010 and 2018
Lake Muir
Rocky Gully
In the early years (green) the focus was on private property and the immediate interface.
By 2010 (blue) more work was being done in DBCA estate as the project expanded and incursions reduced in some private property areas
The partnership with Northcliffe DSG started in 2010 and has seen a significant expansion of the trapping area – in the original project area, pigs are now found further from private property
Northcliffe
The legend of Iron Mike …
Iron Mike was a 110 kg boar captured during the Thermal Imaging Project led by Dr Peter Adams.
His milestones:
• April 2015 - Trapped and collared NE of Northcliffe
• In 68 days he travelled nearly 300km
• His collar stopped working around the back of Lake Muir
• November 2016 - recaptured and destroyed in roughly 10km from his first capture
Thankyou to our project partners and funders
For more information contact:
Chairman Mark Muir 0427 691 [email protected]
Project Secretary Jo Wills 0418 909 [email protected]
DPIRD Officer Invasive Species Dr Peter Adams (08) 9368 3204 [email protected]
The Lake Muir Denbarker Community Feral Pig Eradication Group on ground work is supported by funding from the Western Australian Governments State Natural Resource Management Program