Threat abatement plan for predation by the European red fox (2008) Five yearly review 2013 1 PURPOSE OF REVIEW Under section 279 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, the Minister must review each threat abatement plan at intervals of not longer than five years, and consider whether a variation of the plan is necessary. The threat abatement plan for predation by the European red fox was made by the Minister in 2008. Reviewing threat abatement plans, at least every five years, allows for an assessment of whether the threat has been abated or, if not, what progress has been made towards abating the threat. It is acknowledged that some key actions listed in threat abatement plans may take longer than five years to achieve, such as research into the development of new toxins and baiting methods. The review of a threat abatement plan assesses progress and effectiveness of progress across all actions in the threat abatement plan. It also considers progress towards threat abatement in associated ways, such as related work done through recovery plans for specific species. Finally it also considers if the threatened species are still being threatened by the subject of the threat abatement plan. 2 Contents Purpose of review ................................................................................................................2 Executive Summary .............................................................................................................5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................7 Objectives of the threat abatement plan ..............................................................................8 Objective One ......................................................................................................................8 Offshore islands .................................................................................................................................. 9 Case study 1.1 Middle Island, Victoria .............................................................................................. 9 Case study 1.2 Phillip Island, Victoria .............................................................................................. 10 Mainland islands ............................................................................................................................... 11 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 13 Objective Two .................................................................................................................... 15 Case studies 2.1 High priority areas for threatened species management ..................................... 16 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 18 Objective Three ................................................................................................................. 19 Action 3.1 Monitoring ...................................................................................................................... 19 Action 3.2 Predator interactions - native carnivores ....................................................................... 21 Action 3.3 Predator interactions - Feral cats, wild dogs and rabbits ............................................... 23 Action 3.4 Unintended effects from fox control .............................................................................. 25 Case study 3.1 Booderee National Park fox control program .......................................................... 26 Action 3.5 Estimating the environmental and other associated costs ............................................. 27 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 28 Objective Four ................................................................................................................... 28 Action 4.1 Research into effectiveness, target specificity and humaneness ................................... 29 Action 4.2 Further work on improvements to control techniques .................................................. 30 Action 4.3 Information on exclusion fence designs and other control methods ............................. 32 Action 4.4 Investigate the feasibility of control techniques to target foxes but not dingoes. ......... 32 Action 4.5 Develop training programs to help land managers identify locally appropriate control methods and when to apply them. .................................................................................................. 33 Action 4.6 Ensure habitat rehabilitation and management of potential prey, competitors and predators of foxes are considered in fox management programs. .................................................. 33 Action 4.7 Continues to promote the adoption of model codes of practice and standard operating procedures. ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 34 Objective Five .................................................................................................................... 35 Formal training for stakeholders ...................................................................................................... 36 Cross tenure or group management programs ................................................................................ 36 Other promotion .............................................................................................................................. 37 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 37 Conclusion on the threat abatement plan .......................................................................... 39 Looking forward ................................................................................................................ 39 3 Works Cited ....................................................................................................................... 42 Appendices ........................................................................................................................ 49 Appendix A: Islands with foxes ................................................................................................... 49 Appendix B: High priority offshore islands with foxes ................................................................ 57 Appendix C: Caring for our Country projects with a fox component ............................................. 58 Appendix D: Biodiversity Fund projects with a fox component .................................................... 76 Appendix E: EPBC Act listed threatened species ......................................................................... 78 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The threat abatement plan for predation by the European red fox has a goal of minimising the impact of foxes on biodiversity in Australia and its territories. This goal has not been met in the last five years, excepting in some small scale areas. However, significant improvements have been made in the strategic approach to fox control and improving non-target risks and welfare issues. The first objective of the threat abatement plan focuses on high conservation value areas or ‘islands’ for control. This asset protection approach has been adopted across Australia. New South Wales’ fox threat abatement plan prioritises areas for threatened species control. There have been a number of predator-proof fenced sanctuaries built in the last five years for threatened species protection. There are now a number of companies in both Australia and New Zealand servicing this market. This is an effective means of protecting small threatened species most at risk from predation by foxes, but it is expensive and resource intensive. Fortunately foxes are only found on a small number of offshore islands and there are examples where eradication has been achieved or is underway. The biggest island eradication program underway is for Tasmania. This is a long-term program attempting to eradicate foxes that are established but not in high densities. The program has driven new developments in detection methods and analytical techniques such as DNA analysis of scats. At the time of this review, the program was commencing stage three which is focused on targeted surveillance. Maintaining public support for a program where there is little physical evidence is a tremendous challenge for the Tasmanian fox eradication program. Linked with the concept of asset protection for fox control programs is the maintenance and recovery of threatened native species and ecological communities. Land managers are applying the actions set out objective 2 and are establishing cross-tenure programs for fox management, monitoring the outcomes for adaptation of the program, and using incentives. There are examples where fox control programs are specifically instigated for the protection of species such as rock wallabies, malleefowl and penguins. The Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre’s 2005-12 research program made