Senior Land Services Officer Paul Gibb, says the campaign planned for next autumn will be conducted along up to 900 kilometres of aerial bait trails on the eastern boundary of the Central Tablelands region, a significant increase on the 477 kilometres of bait lines in 2018.

Central Tablelands Local Land Services is urging landholders to join local wild dog control groups and become more actively involved in managing the wild dog threat.

Read more

Group control gives a far greater impact on the target species than individual or uncoordinated efforts.

“Community support and understanding is crucial to the program.  The more landholders involved the more effective in reducing numbers and damage,” Mr Gibb said. 

Wild dog attacks have a devastating emotional and financial toll on land managers and their families.

Many landholders may not know their general biosecurity duty to manage biosecurity risks posed by pest animals such as wild dogs under the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015.

Impacts caused by wild dogs vary from attacks on livestock, calves and smaller livestock such as sheep being particularly vulnerable, to attacks on domestic pets, particularly domestic dogs.

“Wild dogs are extremely mobile and we are also asking landholders to report any evidence of wild dog activity so we can get the most accurate picture of where they are hunting and travelling through the landscape.”

Land managers are also being encouraged to use control methods such as trapping, shooting and exclusion fencing which adds value to the overall management effort. 

Central Tablelands Local Land Services will host wild dog information meetings in early 2019 to bring landholders into the coordinated strategic management program and to build community knowledge and awareness of the dog problem. 

Central Tablelands Local Land Services is working closely with Forestry Corporation NSW, the National Parks & Wildlife Service and Crown Lands agencies on the preparations for next year’s autumn baiting program.

For more information about joining a Wild Dog management group in your area contact your nearest Central Tablelands Local Land Services vet or livestock officer in Lithgow, Bathurst, Cowra, Molong, Mudgee or Orange.