Almost 128,000 baits injected with 1080 poison have been dropped across the Northern Tablelands in the 2017 autumn aerial baiting campaign targeting wild dogs.
“In recent years landholder and inter-agency support has continued to gain momentum and this year was the biggest baiting program we’ve ever undertaken through Northern Tablelands Local Land Services,” said Mark Tarrant, Northern Tablelands Local Land Services Invasive Species Team Leader.
In addition to the aerial baiting, more than 10,000 ground baits were distributed by landholders from 26 wild dog control groups as part of the coordinated baiting campaign.
“We’ve had excellent cooperation from around 450 dedicated local landholders who took part in the project, which included three new baiting groups who came on board at Tenterden, Atholwood and Koreelah,” said Mark.
In some cases manufactured baits were purchased and supplied by Local Land Services, while landholders who supplied their own meat were reimbursed for their costs.
During the two week long implementation of the aerial baiting program (which was the culmination of six months of planning) an experienced team of Northern Tablelands Local Land Services staff injected each of the baits with 1080 and loaded bags of baits on to the contracted helicopter ready for the aerial drops.
The Australian Wool Innovation funded Wild Dog Facilitator also assisted with the program, acting as flight navigator for the second year and providing real time feedback to Local Land Services and landholders regarding the ground conditions of the bait trails.
Baits were dropped along more than 3000 km of pre-determined aerial bait lines across both private property and country managed by government agencies during flights coordinated by Northern Tablelands Local Land Services. The NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service distributed over 36,000 baits along 900 km of bait lines, while the NSW Forestry Corporation deployed over 16,000 baits along 400 km of bait lines.
“Working with landholders, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service and the NSW Forestry Corporation, our combined efforts in 2017 will make a real impact on the wild dog population that threatens both livestock and native fauna.”
“The weather was very difficult at the start of bait drops with heavy rain and fog disrupting flight plans, but we still managed to finish our program on schedule and everyone involved should be commended for their efforts,” concluded Mark Tarrant.
For more information about the 2017 wild dog baiting campaign on the Northern Tablelands contact Mark Tarrant at Northern Tablelands Local Land Services on 0427 007 183.
