By Sue Metcalf
In the Chittering Valley, a beautiful region just north of the Perth metro area in Western Australia, the Chittering Landcare Group is working hard. In collaboration with the Chittering Valley Land Conservation District Committee, the Bullsbrook Landcare Group, the Ellen Brockman Integrated Catchment Group and the Wannamal Lakes Catchment Group, the groups have prioritised combatting invasive species, particularly feral pigs.
The dedicated hands of researcher Dr Peter Adams gently places a GPS tracking collar on “Arnie”.
Feral pigs uproot orchard irrigation, cause erosion by digging for corms, worms and other delicacies, and bring diseases. Many local residents had never seen pigs before moving in, but have now become familiar with the hairy, nasty, feral variety, with lice and ticks. Small lot owners have no ability to manage invasive species on their properties. With no firearms, an inability to manage traps, and poisons not an option due to the close proximity of other properties, residents needed help.
In WA it’s the responsibility of the landholder to control pests on their land. The Chittering Landcare Group paid an accredited feral animal control operator to carry out a feral technician program. Mr Malcolm McCusker funded training for six local people to become accredited feral technicians, duly licensed by the health department. These operators, WA Feral Management and Wilkos Vermin Control, were employed to trap pigs in the Chittering Valley in 2013. They were very successful, capturing over 114 pigs within a three month period. In this period they learnt a lot about the movements of pigs through the Valley and trapping. This process granted the Chittering Landcare Group access to highly skilled operators with knowledge of all the required licenses, ethical animal procedures, advanced trapping methods, and motion sensor camera monitoring.
Since then, to date, the group has successfully removed over 800 feral pigs from the area. With the Western Australian State Governments Royalties For Region Program, funded through the State NRM Office, providing ongoing finical support to employ the trappers to successfully rid the region of a very invasive pest, the program hopes to remove a further 300 pigs and over 500 foxes from our local environment.
To learn more, visit Chittering Landcare or contact Sue Metcalf for further information on 08 9571 0400 or by email on sue.metcalf@iinet.net.au.
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