Wild dogs moving futher south into South Australia

WILD dogs are threatening the future of South Australia’s $1 billion-plus sheep industry and thousands of jobs because too little is being done to stop the growing problem, a national action group has warned.

Wild dogs are moving further south in SA, devouring more lambs, according to some experts.

WILD dogs are threatening the future of South Australia’s $1 billion-plus sheep industry and thousands of jobs because too little is being done to stop the growing problem, a national action group has warned.

National Wild Dog Stakeholder Consultative Group chairman Geoff Power said the problem is so severe that he fears it will become unviable to run sheep in large areas of the state.

Mr Power said the sheep industry is at serious risk of following the example in Queensland and Western Australian pastoral areas where wild dogs have already destroyed the once important industry.

He said wild dogs are devouring an increasing proportion of young lambs and sheep below the 5614km dog fence as they increasingly move further south into more heavily settled parts of the state.

“This is the biggest threat to the sheep and wool industry in Australia,” Mr Power said.

“Once the sheep are gone, you don’t need shearers or shed hands, it affects the transport industry, the abattoirs and various other sectors as well as the economy in small country towns.”

Mr Power said South Australia had a trapper who destroyed 108 wild dogs in 14 months, but Federal Government funding for him ran out in April.

“Without a dog trapper, the chances of wild dogs getting down to peri-urban areas of South Australia are higher,” he said.

“If wild dogs reach the Mount Lofty Ranges, it is possible they would cause havoc in residential areas, as they have in similar areas of Queensland.”

Mr Power said a presentation by the Gold Coast City Council to the Stakeholder Consultative Group in Sydney on Friday revealed that wild dogs are attacking people’s pets and, in some cases, attacking people on the Gold Coast.

Apart from the direct impact on the sheep and wool industry if it is destroyed, the knock-on effect on jobs and the state economy will be devastating, he said.

South Australia’s 11.5 million sheep flock provides employment for more than 20,000 people in jobs as diverse as farming, shearing, transport and meat processing.

Mr Power, also chairman of the SA Wild Dog Advisory Group and Livestock SA president, said the industry has asked the State Government to provide $300,000 a year to pay for two wild dog trappers to help address the problem and is about to ask it again.

Mr Power said livestock producers are unhappy that natural resource management boards are failing to combat the growing problem, even though their main job is to control weeds and pest animals.

He said it appears that much of the regional NRM board levies go back to Adelaide and the organisation is strapped for cash in the country.

A Primary Industries and Regions SA spokesman said the State Government is well aware that having the correct management regime for wild dogs is essential for the sustainability of SA’s extensive sheep and rangelands cattle industry.

The spokesman said more than $400,000 has been invested in wild dog management by the federal and state government and the sheep industry in the past year, in addition to the $1 million a year cost of the dog fence paid by the State Government and industry.