internal report 568 Kakadu National Park Landscape Symposia Series 2007–2009 Symposium 5: Feral animal management, 3–4 December 2008 Edited by M Jambrecina October 2010 (Release status – unrestricted) This page has been left blank intentionally. Kakadu National Park Landscape Symposia Series 2007–2009 Symposium 5: Feral animal management, 3–4 December 2008 Jabiru Youth Centre, Kakadu National Park Edited by M Jambrecina Kakadu National Park, Parks Operations and Tourism Branch, Parks Australia Supervising Scientist Division GPO Box 461, Darwin NT 0801 October 2010 Registry File SG2009/0283 (Release status – unrestricted) How to cite this report: Jambrecina M (ed) 2010. Kakadu National Park Landscape Symposia Series 2007–2009. Symposium 5: Feral animal management, 3–4 December 2008, Jabiru Community Centre, Kakadu National Park. Internal Report 568, October, Supervising Scientist, Darwin. Location of final PDF file in SSDX Sharepoint: Supervising Scientist Division > PublicationWork > Publications and Productions > Internal Reports (IRs) > Nos 500 to 599 > IR568_Kakadu Landscape Symposium – Feral Animal Management.pdf Editor of this report: Mim Jambrecina – Kakadu National Park, Parks Operations and Tourism Branch, Parks Australia, PO Box 71, Jabiru NT 0886, Australia The Supervising Scientist is part of the Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. © Commonwealth of Australia 2010 Supervising Scientist Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities GPO Box 461, Darwin NT 0801 Australia This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Supervising Scientist. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Publications Inquiries, Supervising Scientist, GPO Box 461, Darwin NT 0801. e-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.environment.gov.au/ssd (www.environment.gov.au/ssd/publications) The views and opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the Commonwealth of Australia. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this report are factually correct, some essential data rely on the references cited and the Supervising Scientist and the Commonwealth of Australia do not accept responsibility for the accuracy, currency or completeness of the contents of this report, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the report. Readers should exercise their own skill and judgment with respect to their use of the material contained in this report. Printed and bound in Darwin NT by Supervising Scientist Division Contents Acknowledgments iv List of participants v 1 Introduction and overview of the Kakadu Feral Animal Management Symposium and workshops 1 M Jambrecina 2 Kakadu traditional owner and stakeholder views on feral animal management in Kakadu National Park 8 S Winderlich 3 Feral animals in the Northern Territory: impacts, current programs and future management 20 A Walters 4 Feral animal management in Kakadu: current and future directions 25 M Jambrecina 5 Feral animal management in Laynhapuy indigenous protected area 41 D Preece 6 Direct population control or focal-resource control for feral pigs? 43 F Kearney, N MacLeod, R McAllister & Y Buckley 7 Pig control using the Judas technique 52 B Ottley, S Barker & D Wurst 8 Managing feral pig damage – creating a ‘landscape of fear’ 55 P Caley 9 Buffalo and Kakadu: personal recollections on 24 years of living and working in Kakadu 59 B Salau 10 Buffalo and the perched wetlands of the Western Arnhem Land Plateau 66 F Hunter, D Yibarbuk & P Cooke iii 11 Buffalo population dynamics: genetic studies informing management 71 CR McMahon 12 Under the radar? The occurrence, impact and management of feral cats and black rats in Kakadu 76 J Woinarski & S Ward 13 Feral cats: monitoring and control 81 J Quinn, A Robley, M Johnston & D Algar 14 The impact of cane toads on native wildlife, and developments in toad control 86 B Phillips 15 The invasion of exotic ants: implications for native flora and fauna, with specific reference to the Northern Territory 92 A Walters 16 Feral ant detection, eradication and control 99 B Salau, B Hoffmann & S O’Connor 17 Feral animals and disease: an overview of the Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy, a program of AQIS 102 J Schmidt 18 Climate change and invasive species 113 S Garnett 19 Can commercial harvesting be an effective control method? 118 SR McLeod Acknowledgments The Feral Animal Management Symposium was made possible due to the efforts of the Natural and Cultural Programs Section of Kakadu National Park including Mim Jambrecina, Steve Winderlich, Trish Flores, Sally-Anne Atkins, Terry Mahney, Meredith Billington and Mary Blyth. Thank you to all the presenters who gave generously of their time and knowledge, and to Ann Webb (Supervising Scientist Division) who prepared the final copy for publication. A very special thank you to Buck Salau (Kakadu National Park), who this year celebrated 24 years managing feral animals and weeds in Kakadu. Buck presented a fantastic after dinner talk on his personal recollections of buffalo management in Kakadu over the years. Finally, thank you to all who attended. iv List of participants Name Group Alderson Jessie Kakadu Board of Management, traditional owner Atkins Sally-Anne Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Bangalang Michael Kakadu Board of Management, traditional owner Baird Fred Ranger, Kakadu National Park Billis Peter Warddeken Rangers, Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area Billington Meredith Senior Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Blyth Goldie Blyth Mary Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Brown David Ranger, Kakadu National Park Bungamana Ganambarr Yirralka Rangers, Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area Cahill Paddy Ranger, Kakadu National Park Caley Peter Bureau of Rural Sciences Coleman Bessie traditional owner Cooke Peter Warddeken Rangers, Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area Cooper Richard Ranger, Kakadu National Park Crompton Liesl Wildlife Section, NT Government Davis Andrew Operations Manager, Kakadu National Park Delahunt Anne-Marie Assistant Secretary, Parks Australia North Dunn Matthew Ranger, Kakadu National Park Fielding Dave Charles Darwin University Flores Trish Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Fogarty Mark Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism & the Arts, NT Government Fordham Billy Ranger, Kakadu National Park Garlngara Victor Warddeken Rangers, Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area Garnett Stephen Charles Darwin University Gellar Nigel Warddeken Rangers, Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area Goods Steve Ranger, Kakadu National Park Gumana Goninyal Yirralka Rangers, Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area Gumana Tinimala Yirralka Rangers, Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area Harvey Kylie Department of Defence Hatt Michelle Ranger, Kakadu National Park Henda Tim Warnbi Association Henry Sampson traditional owner Hill Terry Ranger, Kakadu National Park Hooke Amber Energy Resources of Australia Ltd Hunter Fred Ranger, Kakadu National Park Jambrecina Mim Senior Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Johns Steve Ranger, Kakadu National Park Kearney Fiachra CSIRO Kela Nigel Warddeken Rangers, Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area v Name Group Kerin Sarah Park Manager, Kakadu National Park Lee Jeff Kakadu Board of Management, traditional owner Mabin Peter Ranger, Kakadu National Park Mahney Terry Senior Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Manski Micheal Warnbi Association Marawiki Liyamadarr Yirralka Rangers, Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area Marika Gurrundae Yirralka Rangers, Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area Markham Rob traditional owner McMahon Clive Charles Darwin University McLeod Stephen NSW Department of Primary Industries Muller Rob Ranger, Kakadu National Park Nadji Sean Ranger, Kakadu National Park Nagawali Joseph Ranger, Kakadu National Park Nayinggul Jacob Kakadu Board of Management, traditional owner O’Dea Anne Ranger, Kakadu National Park O’Loughlin Gabrielle Board Secretary, Kakadu National Park Pham Jaqui Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Phillips Ben University of New South Wales Preece David Yirralka Rangers, Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area Quinn Julie Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts Rawlinson Margie Ranger, Kakadu National Park Rawlinson Matthew Ranger, Kakadu National Park Roeger Lisa Yirralka Rangers, Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area Salau Buck Ranger, Kakadu National Park Scheibe Ollie Ranger, Kakadu National Park Schmidt Joseph Australian Quarantine Inspection Service Shaughnessy Patrick Ranger, Kakadu National Park Smith Beryl traditional owner, Kakadu National Park Spain Lance Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism & the Arts, NT Government Wachope Dwayne Ranger, Kakadu National Park Walters Anne Wildlife Management, NT Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts & Sport Ward Simon Biodiversity Section, NT Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts & Sport Welch Michael RDPIFR Whittaker Charles traditional owner, Kakadu National Park Williams Denise traditional owner Wilson Kathy Ranger, Kakadu National Park Winderlich Steve Natural Cultural Programs Manager, Kakadu National Park Wunungmurra Yumutjia Yirralka Rangers, Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area Wurst Dave ABS Scrofa Pty Ltd Yirbarbuk Dean Warddeken Rangers,