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Managing Vertebrate Pests: Feral Pigs

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Managing Vertebrate Pests: Feral Pigs B u reau of Resource Sciences Managing Vertebrate Pests: Feral Pigs David Choquenot, John McIlr oy and Terry Korn Scientific editing by Mary Bomford Australian Government Publishing Service C a n b e r r a © Commonwealth of Australia 1996 ISBN 0 644 29240 7 (set) ISBN 0 644 35847 5 (this publication) This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be re p ro d u c e d by any process without prior written permission from the Australian Government Publishing Service. Requests and inquiries concerning re p roduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Commonwealth Inform a t i o n Services, Australian Government Publishing Service, GPO Box 84, Canberra ACT 2601. Publication design by Bob Georgeson, Bureau of Resource Sciences Design Studio. C redits for cover photograph. Main: J. Mitchell, DNR. Insert: P. Pavlov. C o v e r, typesetting and diagrams by Henryk Dekker. The Bureau of Resource Sciences is a re s e a rch bureau of the Department of Primary Industries and Energy. Its mission is to enhance the sustainable development of Australia’s agricultural, fisheries, mineral and petroleum re s o u rc e s and their industries by providing scientific and technical advice to government, industry and the community. A ff i l i a t i o n s A u t h o r : David Choquenot, New South Wales Agriculture; John McIlroy, CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, Canberra; Terry Korn, New South Wales Agriculture . E d i t o r : Mary Bomford, Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra. Publication to be cited as: Choquenot, D., McIlroy, J. and Korn, T. (1996) Managing Vertebrate Pests: Feral Pigs. B u reau of Resource Sciences, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. AGPS Reference A61984 P roduced for the Bureau of Resource Sciences by the Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. FOREWORD Feral pigs cause problems for farmers because or hunting is humane. The authors have they eat crops, pasture and lambs. Conser- attempted to take all these divergent views vation authorities are concerned that feral and objectives into account in compiling these pigs, through selective feeding, trampling and g u i d e l i n e s . rooting, could have negative impacts on a The principles underlying the strategic range of native plants and animals, including management of vertebrate pests have been invertebrates. Quarantine authorities need to described in Managing Vertebrate Pests: manage the risk that feral pigs could be Principles and Strategies (Braysher 1993). involved in exotic disease outbreaks, such as The emphasis is on the management of pest foot-and-mouth disease or swine fever, should damage rather than on simply reducing pest such diseases enter Australia. On the other density. The guidelines recommend that, hand, feral pigs are valued by those who hunt w h e rever practical, management should them commercially or rec reationally and feral concentrate on achieving clearly defined pig meat is exported to Europe as wild boar. conservation or agricultural pro d u c t i o n T h e re is little reliable information about b e n e f i t s . the extent and nature of many of the prob l e m s This publication, which is one in a series, caused by feral pigs and how they can best p rovides land managers with ‘best practice’ be solved. This has led to diverse views about national guidelines for managing the feral pig management. Although spending agricultural and environmental damage on pest control should be justified in term s caused by feral pigs. Others in the series of economic re t u rns on such investments, include guidelines for managing feral horses, this is clearly difficult when the impacts of rabbits, foxes, feral goats and rodents. The feral pigs on both agricultural and publication was developed and funded by conservation values, and the responses of pig the Vertebrate Pest Program in the Bureau of populations to control operations, are often R e s o u rce Sciences. poorly quantified. Conservation orga n i s a t i o n s would like to see pig populations eradicated To ensure that the guidelines are widely or reduced to low numbers in areas where accepted as the basis for feral pig they pose a particular threat to conservation management, comment has been sought from values. Pastoralists would like to have cost- State, Territory and Commonwealth e ffective means for reducing pig pre d a t i o n Go v e rnment agricultural, environmental, and on lambs. Quarantine authorities wish to re s o u rce management agencies. Comments e n s u re that feral pigs could be controlled if w e re also sought from land managers and they were involved in an exotic disease community organisations, including the o u t b reak. People interested in hunting feral Australian Conservation Foundation, the pigs for commercial use, re c reation or National Farmers’ Federation, the National subsistence food want to retain them as a Consultative Committee on Animal We l f a re , re s o u rce. Those concerned with animal the Australian Veterinary Association, the w e l f a re want to ensure that feral pig contro l N o r t h e rn Aboriginal Land Council and four Bureau of Resource Sciences iii res e a rch and development corporations. The reduce damage to agriculture and the natural Standing Committee on Agriculture and e n v i ronment caused by feral pigs thro u g h R e s o u rce Management has endorsed the the use of scientifically based management a p p roach to managing feral pig damage set that is humane, cost-effective, and integrated out in these guidelines. with ecologically sustainable land m a n a g e m e n t . These guidelines will help land managers Peter O’Brien Executive Dire c t o r B u reau of Resource Sciences iv Managing Vertebrate Pests: Feral Pigs CONTENTS FOREWORD iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION 7 1. HISTORY 11 Summary 11 1.1 Origin of feral pigs in Australia 11 1.2 Introduction and spread in Australia 11 2. DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE 13 Summary 13 2.1 Distribution in Australia 13 2.2 Changes in abundance 15 3. BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY 17 Summary 17 3.1 General description 18 3.2 Habitats 20 3.3 Food and movements 20 3.4 Social organisation and behaviour 23 3.5 Reproduction 25 3.6 Diseases and parasites 25 3.7 Mortality 26 3.8 Population dynamics 26 4. ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND COMMERCIAL USE 33 Summary 33 4.1 Economic Impact 33 4.2 Environmental impact 41 4.3 Impact of diseases and parasites 43 4.4 Resource value and commercial use 47 4.5 Implications of harvesting for damage control 50 5. COMMUNITY ATTITUDES AFFECTING FERAL PIG MANAGEMENT 51 Summary 51 5.1 Community perceptions 51 5.2 Animal welfare issues 51 5.3 Attitudes in the rural community 52 5.4 Attitudes of the general public 53 5.5 Attitudes to multiple-use management 53 6. PAST AND CURRENT MANAGEMENT 55 Summary 55 6.1 Past management 55 6.2 Current management and legal status 56 Bureau of Resource Sciences v 7. TECHNIQUES TO MEASURE AND MANAGE IMPACT AND ABUNDANCE 61 Summary 61 7.1 Introduction 62 7.2 Estimating pig abundance 62 7.3 Simple estimates and indices of pig abundance 64 7.4 Estimating agricultural and environmental damage 64 7.5 Use of impact, distribution and density measurements 72 7.6 Control techniques 74 7.7 Cost of control 88 7.8 Monitoring 91 7.9 Evaluation 92 8. STRATEGIC APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT AT THE LOCAL AND REGIONAL LEVEL 94 Summary 94 8.1 Economic frameworks 94 8.2 Strategic approach 95 8.3 Defining the problem 96 8.4 Management plan 96 8.5 Implementation 104 8.6 Monitoring and evaluation 104 8.7 Example of the strategic planning process centred on the wet tropics World Heritage Area of north Queensland 105 8.8 Example of costs and benefits of controlling feral pigs in rangelands woolgrowing enterprises 107 9. IMPLEMENTING A MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 117 Summary 117 9.1 The role of extension services 117 9.2 Around the states 118 9.3 Stakeholders 119 9.4 Identification of goals 120 9.5 Government involvement 120 9.6 Partnerships are needed 121 9.7 Facilitation of effective groups 123 10. DEFICIENCIES IN KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE 126 Summary 126 10.1 Biology of feral pigs in Australia 126 10.2 Agricultural impact 127 10.3 Environmental impact 127 10.4 Impact of diseases and parasites 127 10.5 Assessment of non-target impact of CSSP 128 10.6 ‘Real world’ costs of feral pig control 128 10.7 Training 129 vi Managing Vertebrate Pests: Feral Pigs REFERENCES 130 APPENDIX A Best practice extension in pest management 142 APPENDIX B Economic framework for feral pig management 144 APPENDIX C Criteria for eradication 147 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 148 GLOSSARY 149 INDEX 154 FIGURES Figure 1 Strategic approach to managing feral pig damage. 8 Figure 2 Distribution of feral pigs in Australia. 14 Figure 3 Variation in protein content of food consumed by pigs in north-west New South Wales. 28 Figure 4 The numerical response of pigs to pasture biomass in north-west New South Wales. 29 Figure 5 The relationship between total mortality rate for pigs and number of dingo bounties paid. 32 Figure 6 Probability of different rates of lamb predation at three pig densities.
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