Review of existing Red Fox, Feral Cat, Feral Rabbit, Feral Pig and Feral Goat control in Australia. II. Information Gaps

About the report

Red foxes, feral cats, feral rabbits, feral pigs, and feral goats separately and in various combinations are believed to be responsible for the extinction or decline of a wide range of native species and for adverse changes in ecological communities in Australia. Predation by foxes and feral cats are key threatening processes under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), whilst competition with native species and land degradation by feral rabbits, feral pigs and feral goats are also listed as key threatening processes under that Act. The belief that pest animals have caused declines in native species (and damage production values) is reflected in legislation and has led to many attempts to control the pests. Many agencies and organisations including Federal, State and Local governments commit significant resources managing these species. However, there is limited hard evidence that this management has led to a reduction in threats and to a reversal in the decline.

The Department of the Environment and Heritage (DEH) commissioned the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research to undertake a project aimed at increasing the understanding on whether control of foxes, feral cats, feral rabbits, feral pigs, and feral goats lead to a reduction in threats to native species and ecological communities. The project is being completed in three stages. The first stage detailed an audit of 1306 existing pest animal control programs in Australia (Reddiex et al. 2004). This, the second stage, identifies gaps in knowledge on control activities and recommends priorities for filling these gaps. Other stages include the development of protocols for monitoring pest species, and designing a process to determine priority ranking for control of pest animals in order to minimise threats to native species and ecological communities.