Below is a summary of the project:
"Wild canids – wild dogs and foxes – are a huge problem for WA livestock producers, causing over $70m annually in livestock losses. Traditional baiting programs largely ignore the behaviour of these canids, and how this can reduce the efficacy of control initiatives. The time is now right to combine advances in technology with our understanding of the biology of canids to their control in a way that is effective, cost-efficient and robust.
The aim of our project is to provide financial benefit for WA livestock producers within 2.5 years, reducing wild canid predation of sheep and cattle through:
- Identifying drivers for/barriers to participation in wild canid control
- Developing novel canid control techniques that:
- are effective where conventional methods do not work; and
- reduce risk to working dogs
- Improving target specificity and baiting effectiveness
We will work directly with landholders to identify tools and approaches that are most applicable to them. Our work is aimed specifically at addressing some identified issues that prevent landholders engaging with control: financial costs, risk to working dogs, movement of baits, alternative methods that could be applied during lambing/calving, and permeability in fencing that negates effectiveness. These issues will be addressed by focussing on increased target specificity and development of novel aversion approaches."
This project is managed by Murdoch University.