Wild Dog update - December 2021
Find out about ground and aerial baiting, trapper training, dog control efforts and new Landscape SA Regulations for baiting of wild dogs.
Biteback News
Ground baiting injection services – Inside fence
Tentative times have been allocated for the autumn 2022 injection service, with dates to be confirmed in early 2022. If you believe these periods will clash with long standing commitments in your district, please contact Biteback staff to arrange an alternative time that better suits all group members:
Kingoonya/Gawler Ranges districts: mid-March 2022
Gawler Ranges (groups 19-21) district: mid/late-March 2022
North Flinders/Marree district: late-March 2022
North East Pastoral district: early-April 2022.
Aerial Baiting
A review of the aerial baiting program has been undertaken to ensure it remains focussed on inaccessible sections of land where ground baiting is impossible. The review refined the program to 31,000 baits distributed on 31 properties during the October service. Another aerial baiting program is planned for April 2022.
Trapper Training Workshops
Trapper training workshops planned for spring 2021 were postponed due to border closures. Although specific dates for the workshops are still to be confirmed, they are expected to be held in February/March 2022, which may cause a change of date to some ground baiting injection services.
Five workshops are expected to be held in the SAAL region at:
Gawler Ranges district: late February 2022
Kingoonya district: late February/early March 2022
Northern Flinders district: early March 2022
Northern Flinders district (Advanced one day course): early March 2022
North East Pastoral district: early-mid March 2022.
Dog Control Effort
Inside Fence Ground Baiting Spring 2021
District | No. of Properties | Injected Baits | Manufactured Baits | TOTAL | Required baits/District |
NF_M 80 Properties | 44 *47 | 11665 *10536 | 4000 *2050 | 15665 *12586 | 17046 |
NEP 50 Properties | 22 *20 | 10565 *7255 | 3000 *1550 | 13565 *8805 | 14494 |
KIN 28 Properties | 11 *20 | 7005 *7785 | 2150 *0 | 9155 *7785 | 22707 |
GR 51 Properties | 13 *19 | 2985 *3825 | 1900 *400 | 4885 *4225 | 17919 |
PA_Q New District | 0 *0 | 0 *0 | 0 *0 | 0 *0 | N/A |
TOTAL | 90 *106 | 32220 *29401 | 11050 *4000 | 43270 *33401 | 72166 |
* Represents Spring 2020 comparison
Outside Fence Ground Baiting 2021
District | Properties Involved | Injected Baits | Manufactured Baits | TOTAL |
M_O 24 Properties | 4 *8 | 2860 *7405 | 950 *0 | 3810 *7405 |
M_I 27 Properties | 2 *3 | 4935 *4605 | 800 *0 | 5735 *4605 |
TOTAL | 6 *11 | 7795 *12010 | 1750 *0 | 9545 *12010 |
* Represents a 2020 comparison
Monitoring of wild dog activity and impacts (Autumn 2021)
District | Maps Returned | Wild Dog Scan Reports | Shot | Trapped | Seen | Stock Loss |
NF_M | 19 *21 | 8 *12 | 3 *19 | 25 *48 | 1 *51 | 32 *193 |
NEP | 14 *11 | 2 *4 | 0 *0 | 2 *5 | 5 *9 | 0 *10 |
KIN | 5 *6 | 2 *2 | 1 *0 | 7 *18 | 0 *4 | 3 *6 |
GR | 7 *7 | 4 *5 | 2 *3 | 13 *9 | 2 *2 | 0 *59 |
PA_Q | 0 *0 | 0 *0 | 0 *0 | 0 *0 | 0 *0 | 0 *0 |
M-O | 1 *0 | 3 *1 | 0 *3 | 0 *0 | 43 *0 | 0 *3 |
M-I | 0 *1 | 0 *0 | 0 *26 | 0 *0 | 0 *7 | 0 *3 |
TOTAL | 46 *46 | 19 *24 | 26 *51 | 47 *80 | 51 *73 | 35 *274 |
* Autumn 2020 comparison.
Landscape SA Regulations for Baiting Wild Dogs
New regulations relating to the baiting for wild dogs under the Landscape Act came into effect on 8 August 2021. The requirement for mandatory baiting levels differs based on location and wild dog activity. More details about the requirements in each region can be found here.
A summary of the key elements relating to the SAAL region are:
Pastoral region inside the dog fence
- Proactively bait 1 bait per kilometre of all tracks or roads regardless of dog activity, and
- Bait 5 baits per kilometre where wild dogs are found active within 10 kilometres of activity site
Flinders Ranges Council
- Wild dog activity found – must bait 10 baits per 100 hectares (only properties over 300ha)
- no proactive baiting required
Buffer Zone (35km north of Dog Fence)
Landowners must bait 10 baits within 10 kilometres of all active man made water point used by livestock, regardless of dog activity.
Organic Properties - Property plans
- Organic properties must complete a wild dog plan outlining an alternative method for laying the equivalent amount of baits as expected of a non-organic property in the same area. Once approved by the SAAL Landscape Board, the property is then expected to enact the approved plan.
Baiting amounts linked to length of tracks/roads
- Vehicle track means any track or road on a property that is accessed by a vehicle
- Length of tracks on pastoral properties is determined by current pastoral data
- The landowner is expected to notify the Pastoral Board of any modification to tracks to update official data.
- Freehold properties - tracks to be determined by available data including satellite imagery and communication with land owners
