IT will be 12 months before the success of the state government’s wild dog control program can be quantified, according to SA Wild Dog Advisory Group chairperson Heather Miller, but she believes there are promising early signs.
In early July the state government announced it had contracted the services of seven wild dog trappers, backed up by a significant baiting program.
“I think the program is going well in its early stages,” Ms Miller said.
“Wild dog trappers have not only gone to hot spots in the arid land region, but also locations on the Eyre Peninsula and in the Northern and Yorke region.
“So far I think it’s been successful but time will tell – after 12 months we’ll really be able to determine the success of the program.”
While there had not been much activity recently, Ms Miller said that was to be expected at this time of year.
“The past couple of months have been the breeding season, so bitches would be in dens with their pups at the moment,” she said.
“Activity tends to quieten down at this time of year, but I expect it will ramp up soon. We have had a good baiting program in place, which should help keep numbers down, but we’ll really start to see once pups and dogs start moving again.”
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Ms Miller said the decision was made to go with seven part-time trappers rather than two full-timers to offer flexibility to the program.
“If we had two full-time trappers, they could only work in two areas at once,” she said. “With the flexibility of seven trappers, if numbers go up and things get busy, we can get the trappers all out working at the one time.”
While dog numbers and impacts on sheep are typically low in winter and early spring, because the dogs are denned up with their pups, the north east pastoral area is an exception this year, where there are unusually high dog numbers and impacts being reported.
Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister Tim Whetstone said the state government’s $1.4 million commitment to wild dog management meant the seven trappers contracted along the Dog Fence were backed by an extensive land and aerial baiting program.
“There has been reports that a number of the trapped dogs have been very skinny, which may be due to the present dry seasonal conditions,” he said.
“But the efforts of SA’s wild dog control program to protect the state’s $5.5 billion livestock industry is seeing results with almost 40 wild dogs trapped to date.”
