New feral pig policy
A new policy for feral pigs has been approved by the Minister for Environment and Water seeking to reduce the numbers of feral pigs in established populations, prevent new populations and prevent domestic pigs being released.
The policy was gazetted at the same time as revisions to the feral deer policy, bringing the rest of the state in line with the current policy on KI following the recent eradication of feral deer and goats from the island by the Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board.
Welcoming the new feral pig policy, Kangaroo Island NRM Board member, Jenny Stanton, said that the new policy strengthens control provisions with significant changes.
“The new policy and declarations now place a requirement on landowners to destroy feral pigs on their land, however, for feral pig management to be effective there needs to be a coordinated approach with landholders working together” said Mrs Stanton.
“The policy also prohibits the movement, sale and possession of feral pigs in order to prevent further spread of feral pig populations.”
Kangaroo Island has the largest established population of feral pigs in South Australia with numbers estimated in 2011 to be anywhere between 675 to over 5,400.
Team Leader, Animal & Plant Control at Natural Resources Kangaroo Island (NRKI), Trish Mooney, said that the impacts of feral pigs are well known to islanders.
“Feral pigs are known to cause damage to pastures, grain and potato crops as well as damaging fence lines and dams.” Said Ms Mooney.
“The damage caused to ecosystems around rivers, streams, lagoons and other areas by pigs leaves these areas susceptible to soil loss, weed establishment and to the spread of soil borne plant diseases such as Phytophthora.”
The new feral pig policy states:
• Separate declarations for feral and domestic pigs.
• A requirement for land managers to destroy all feral pigs on their properties.
• Prohibits the movement, possession and sale of feral pigs (not domestic pigs).
• Escaped domestic pigs can quickly form feral populations so they must be destroyed if they stray.
The KI NRM Board will be seeking to engage with and support landholders who are committed to working together to effectively control feral pigs.
Pig traps and on-ground advice on their effective use continue to be available for hire to landholders from NRKI at the Natural Resources Centre on Dauncey Street, Kingscote.
Fact sheets on pig trapping are also available via the NRKI website and can be found here: https://www.landscape.sa.gov.au/files/sharedassets/kangaroo_island/plants_and_animals/pest_animals/pig/trapping-to-control-pigs-on-ki-fact.pdf
A full copy of the new feral pig policy can be found here: https://pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/340891/Pig_policy_2019.pdf
