Wild Dog news

Posted 08 July 2021.

Spring Injection Services

Inside fence - Injection Services SPRING 2021

Below are the tentative injection service dates for spring 2021. Please notify Biteback staff if there are any clashes with the dates.

• Kingoonya/Gawler Ranges Districts: 6-9 September 2021.
• North Flinders/Marree District: 27-30 September 2021.
• Gawler Ranges (groups 19-21) District: 6 October 2021.
• North East Pastoral District: 12-15 October 2021.

  All properties located inside the fence and within the buffer zone (35km strip above the fence) will receive invites to the coordinated injection services in their area about eight weeks prior to their service. Reminder emails are sent every two weeks until the service dates to remind land managers to attend.

  Please RSVP by the due date listed on the invite to ensure COVID gathering restrictions can be adhered to, and to allow Biteback staff to plan for the service.. This is especially important when ordering manufactured baits because of possible border restrictions slowing down orders from interstate.

  Outside fence – Annual access to baits

  While ground baiting is not mandatory outside the fence, Biteback staff have tentatively allocated time each year to enable access to injection services. These trips will only occur on a needs basis.

• Marla/Oodnadatta District: 25-29 October 2021.
• Marree/Innamincka District: 8-12 November 2021.

  Aerial Baiting

  Two aerial baiting programs are being planned for the 2021-22 financial year. These programs will focus on inaccessible sections of properties where ground baiting is not an option, and on properties experiencing high wild dog activity and impacts. Tentative dates have been scheduled to ensure the aerial baiting occurs in conjunction with ground baiting efforts for good landscape coverage and are aligned with times when wild dogs are most likely to be on the move.

• Spring Aerial Baiting: October 2021.
• Autumn Aerial Baiting: April 2022.

Note: These dates may change based on logistical constraints, staff and plane availability.

Dog Control Effort

Inside Fence Ground Baiting (2020-21 Financial Year)

The table below shows a comparison between Inside Fence ground baiting in the 2020-21 financial year, compared with the 2019-20 financial year (displayed in italics).

Aerial Baiting (2020-21 Financial Year)

In the 2020-21 financial year three aerial baiting programs were completed (September and December 2020, March 2021). These programs were run in partnership between the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board and PIRSA, with funding from the Sheep Industry Fund (SIF), Australian Wool Innovations (AWI) and Commonwealth Drought Assistance Funding. The table below shows combined figures from all three programs conducted in the 2020-21 financial year.

(All bait numbers are estimates based on baited flight path).

Outside Fence Ground Baiting (2020-21 Financial Year)

The table below shows a comparison between Outside Fence ground baiting in the 2020-21 financial year, compared with the 2019-20 financial year (displayed in italics).

Monitoring of wild dog activity and impacts (2020 Calendar Year)

The table below shows a comparison between properties reporting, wild dog activity and impacts reported in 2020, compared to those reported in 2019 (displayed in italics)..

The data was collected from returned property maps and from Wild Dog Scan (WDS) data. It also includes wild dogs that were trapped within the Region by the PIRSA managed Professional Trapper Program.

Wild dog trapper and bounty programs still available

Pastoralists and landholders have been urged to participate in the wild dog bounty and trapper programs.

The programs are part of the South Australian Government’s integrated approach to tackling wild dogs, which includes a $25 million rebuild of the Dog Fence, and $21m drought support, plus aerial and ground baiting programs.

The Wild Dog Bounty Scheme, part of the Government’s drought relief package, has received 278 claims from 38 properties to date. More than $66,000 is still available to be claimed.

The bounty program is open until its $100,000 budget is exhausted, offering landowners $120 per wild dog humanely killed on their land.

The Wild Dog Trapping Program is open to land managers inside the Dog Fence who would like an expert trapper to assist with wild dog control. In addition to removing wild dogs, trappers provide training to land managers to undertake trapping themselves.

Most of the trapping work has occurred in pastoral areas of the SA Arid Lands, but wild dogs have also been trapped in the far west coast region of Eyre Peninsula and the Upper South East. To date, the program – which will continue until 1 July 2022 – has removed 670 wild dogs and provided more than 110 days of training to landholders.

Trapper training workshops are planned for the SAAL region in August. Workshop districts and dates are:

North East Pastoral: Monday 16 August

Kingoonya: Thursday 19 August

Gawler Ranges (Nonning): Friday 27 August

The learn more about these programs, visit pir.sa.gov.au/wild-dogs. To connect with a Biteback officer for information about baiting programs, contact our office on 8648 5307.