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Feral Animal Management

Feral Animals Management Strategy

Cane toad control is now top of rangers' pest control agenda

Feral Animals

A range of feral animals including large vertebrates, cane toads, insect and fish species have established themselves on Aboriginal land over the past century.

Although Aboriginal land owners and managers are concerned about the environmental damage caused by feral animals, the situation is often more complex than for weeds as a number of feral animal species also provide benefits to Aboriginal communities.

For example, in most Aboriginal communities feral pigs (Sus scrofa) are acknowledged as a problem, though pigs are often recognised as a resource, both commercially (through harvesting as game meat) and as subsistence food. This is similar for the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), donkeys (Equus asinus) and horses (Equus caballus).

A much greater concern is the relentless spread of the cane toad (Bufo marinus) from Queensland, where it was originally introduced last century to control pest species affecting sugar cane production. Over the past five years cane toads have moved westward through the NT and are about to hit the major wetlands of the Arafura Swamp and Kakadu National Park. Assurances from the NT Government that no species will become extinct and populations of animals affected by cane toads, such as goannas, will re-establish are widely disputed by Aboriginal people in the Gulf region. The Caring for Country Unit has been raising awareness (through signs and posters) with Aboriginal landowners and managers of the need to keep cane toads off outlying islands.

A number of ant species are also in the process of invading the Top End. The big-headed ant (Pheidole megacephala) and the ginger ant (Solenopsis geminata) are found in most major centres of the Top End. The big-headed ant has already invaded bush sites near Darwin, and is having a major environmental impact. The ginger ant is very closely related to the fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) that is the focus of a $150 million eradication program in Queensland. Another very serious pest ant, the crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes), has recently been discovered in north-east Arnhem Land.

The implication for Aboriginal landowners within Arnhem Land is significant and potentially dramatic. Crazy ants have the potential to impact upon traditional land uses and limit the development of enterprises based upon sustainable utilisation of wildlife resources. If left un-managed, crazy ants have the potential to spread rapidly across northern Australia through transportation on vehicles and road freight.

Currently no major exotic fish incursions have occurred in the Top End of the NT. This contrasts markedly with the dominance of introduced fish species elsewhere in Australia. However there is a huge risk of invasion of major Top End wetlands by exotic freshwater aquarium species. Localised incursions have already occurred: guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in the Nhulunbuy Town Lagoon; and platys, mollies and swordtails (Xiphophorous maculatus, Poecilia latipinna, Xiphophorous helleri) in the Darwin region.

Caring for Country works to raise Aboriginal landowners' awareness of the problems and benefits associated with feral animals and their control strategies. It does this by:

	facilitating the involvement of Aboriginal landowners and community-based rangers in the assessment of actual and potential environmental impacts caused by feral animals.
	preparing and disseminating up-to-date information to Aboriginal landowners and community-based rangers about actual and potential feral animals and related management strategies.

Caring for Country also recognises the importance of increasing Aboriginal landowners' capacity to implement feral animal control programs. This involves:

	lobbying governments and non-government agencies for resources and funding to support Aboriginal landowners in their efforts to manage feral animals.
	developing capacity and expertise within the Caring for Country Unit to facilitate community-based feral animal management and training activities.
	lobbying governments to take responsibility for the cost of eradication or control of feral animals, and to undertake quarantine research in the Top End.
	ensuring the needs in relation to the control of feral animals identified in the status reports are addressed.
	collaborating with government and relevant agencies to provide a safe environment in which appropriately trained Aboriginal landowners and land managers can have adequate access to suitable firearms for subsistence and for feral animal control.