Feral pigs 30km from city centre - major blitz under way

8/11/06
A 70kg feral pig has been trapped at Walyunga National Park, 30km north-east of Perth, as part of a major $2.9million feral animal blitz ordered by Environment Minister Mark McGowan.
The three to four-year-old boar is believed to be part of a group of about 40 pigs living in the park, which is popular with tourists and locals.
Mr McGowan said the pig would be destroyed, and trapping to eradicate the rest of the group would continue through summer.
The campaign, which was part of an intensive two-year, $15million biodiversity protection fund established by the Carpenter Government, would also seek to destroy thousands of feral goats, camels, donkeys, wild dogs and introduced pest birds around the State over the coming months.
"Feral pigs eat and destroy native plants and animals and wallow in and foul dams, waterholes and other moist or swampy areas," the Minister said.
"They also use their snouts to grub for food and this can have major impact on vegetation and soils, destabilising stream banks and accelerating erosion.
"Feral pigs eat and destroy grain crops and pastures, and damage fences. They can carry endemic diseases such as leptospirosis, brucellosis and meliodosis.
"They are also a potential host of foot and mouth disease, should it ever be introduced into Australia."
Mr McGowan said he was extremely concerned about the impact of feral animals on Western Australia's biodiversity and had allocated additional funding to employ a team of professional shooters and trappers across the State.
"These teams will work together with staff from the Department of Environment and Conservation, who will also be working on other control methods such as fencing and removing artificial waters on conservation lands," he said.
Key projects scheduled under the campaign included:

• pig control on the Darling Scarp and Swan Coastal Plain between Mogumber and Waroona and in the forests around Manjimup and Lake Muir;
• goat control in Kennedy Range, Cape Range and Kalbarri national parks;
• fencing at Cane River-Mt Minnie Conservation Park south of Exmouth, Millstream-Chichester National Park and Mandora Marsh, a significant wetland in the Kimberley;
• camel, donkey, wild horse and wild cattle control in the western Little Sandy Desert and at Dragon Tree Soak Nature Reserve in the Kimberley;
• a camel survey in Rudall River National Park;
• donkey control in the Mungaroona Nature Reserve and former Mentheena pastoral lease in the Pilbara;
• support for the starling control program on the south coast; and
• control of introduced bird species in the metropolitan area and around Albany and Denmark.

The Minister said the latest program was in addition to the Department of Environment and Conservation's 'Western Shield' initiative, which focused on wildlife recovery through control of European foxes and feral cats, the State Cane Toad Initiative, and other pest animal control programs run by DEC and the Department of Agriculture and Food.
"The new programs aim to target invasive animals in key areas where effective population control can be achieved," he said.
"These preventive measures will potentially save tens of millions of dollars in control and eradication measures in the future."
Minister's office: 9222 9111