Aerial control removes 1100 feral pests
More than 1100 feral animals have been removed from the far north east corner of SA in an operation that involved more than 90 hours of aerial control work.
Undertaken across Department for Environment and Water reserves, private pastoral property and conservation land, the control, led and facilitated by the SAAL Board, was undertaken in response to increased feral animal presence and impacts following flooding in the area.
Feral pigs were the primary target of the exercise with 779 removed from the area, including from parts of the region that had not previously experienced feral pig impacts. Identified impacts include damage to fences, troughs and infrastructure and rooting which can lead to erosion and fouling water ways. Pigs also compete with livestock for feed, water and attack and eat smaller livestock, ground nesting birds, reptiles, mammals and marsupials and disrupt fragile ecosystems.
Feral pigs also carry biosecurity risks as carriers of exotic diseases such as African swine fever, Brucellosis, foot and mouth disease and leptospirosis, which could devastate livestock industries.
In addition, the professional shooters from the Department for Environment and Water also humanely controlled 181 feral camels and successfully removed 192 feral horses, one fox and two feral cats.
The control program was designed to halt the growing number of feral pigs and camels in the region to protect the region’s precious biodiversity values and endemic species that call the region home. Sustained effort is required to continue knocking down the numbers breeding or entering across State borders.
The board is working hard, using funds collected through the SAAL Landscape Levy to leverage further funding through flood recovery investment to undertake cross state effort and border management.
A further control program will be undertaken in early 2026 in an effort to further reduce the number of feral animals.
The aerial control program was undertaken through the Wetland Wonders project, which is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.
