A strategic approach to mitigating the impacts of wild canids: proposed activities of the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre

Abstract

Wild canids (wild dogs and European red foxes) cause substantial losses to Australian livestock industries and environmental values. Both species are actively managed as pests to livestock production. Contemporaneously, the dingo proportion of the wild dog population, being considered native, is protected in areas designated for wildlife conservation. Wild dogs particularly affect sheep and goat production because of the behavioural responses of domestic sheep and goats to attack, and the flexible hunting tactics of wild dogs. Predation of calves, although less common, is now more economically important because of recent changes in commodity prices. Although sometimes affecting lambing and kidding rates, foxes cause fewer problems to livestock producers but have substantial impacts on environmental values, affecting the survival of small to medium-sized native fauna and affecting plant biodiversity by spreading weeds. Canid management in Australia relies heavily on the use of compound 1080-poisoned baits that can be applied aerially or by ground. Exclusion fencing, trapping, shooting, livestock-guarding animals and predator calling with shooting are also used. The new Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre has 40 partners representing private and public land managers, universities, and training, research and development organisations. One of the major objectives of the new IACRC is to apply a strategic approach in order to reduce the impacts of wild canids on agricultural and environmental values in Australia by 10%. In this paper, the impacts, ecology and management of wild canids in Australia are briefly reviewed and the first cooperative projects that will address IACRC objectives for improving wild dog management are outlined.

A monitoring program for Patagonian foxes based on power analysis

“…For example, a severe reduction of food in ranches could lead to crowding effects in the protected area, as has been suggested for other taxa after substantial habitat removal (Hagan et al 1996). Finally, similar monitoring approaches could be useful to manage the widespread predatorlivestock conflict, as long as predator populations occupy refuges or constitute conservation targets (Herfindal et al 2005;Fleming et al 2006).…”

The longevity of para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) wild dog baits and the implications for effective and safe baiting campaigns

“…Disadvantages include a relatively long time to death (a few hours), the potential for secondary poisoning (arising from consumption of vomitus or carcasses from poisoned animals), distressing behaviour of poisoned dogs and the absence of an antidote for 1080 poisoning. Improving these and other animal welfare outcomes has been one key driver for the development of the toxin para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) as an additional vertebrate pesticide (Eason et al 2014;Fleming et al 2006;Sherley 2007;Southwell et al 2011).…”

“…The availability of a methylene blue antidote provides a means of reversing the effects of accidental poisoning of non-target species, particularly companion or working dogs. The deployment of PAPP bait and availability of an antidote will be particularly advantageous for peri-urban areas or to reduce the risk of death from accidental poisoning of domestic dogs (Fleming et al 2006). However, the antidote must presently be administered by a veterinarian, and due to the fast-acting nature of PAPP (unconsciousness typically occurs within an hour, and death within 2 h), administration of the antidote needs to be swift (30-90 min) (ACTA 2016;IACRC 2016).…”

Top-Predators as Biodiversity Regulators: Contemporary Issues Affecting Knowledge and Management of Dingoes in Australia

“…The motivation for much of this work has been directed at the negative effects of dingoes on livestock production [19,64], and dingoes are presently subject to lethal control in many places in attempts to alleviate livestock predation [32,64,77]. However, due to the recently reported positive roles of dingoes and other top-predators on biodiversity conservation [1,2,7], lethal dingo control has come under increased scrutiny over its perceived indirect effects on biodiversity (e.g.…”