New fox bounty to curb livestock hunting in South Australia

Farmers will receive money for every fox they kill under a new bounty scheme to reduce the pest in SA.

A $220,000 fund has been set up to finance a shooting bounty on foxes to cull their numbers and reduce livestock killings.

The state government has put a $10-a-scalp bounty on foxes, which prey on a variety of animals including newborn lambs and calves.

Livestock SA president Joe Keynes said the program – a first in his working lifetime – would be a “significant” cost saver for farmers.

He said baiting, managed through local landscape boards, was the state’s key program to reduce fox numbers, but the bounty would also help.

“Baiting is your first and best defence to keep up with foxes and it can be followed up with shooting,” Mr Keynes said.

“The incentive will reduce the fox population over time.”

Foxes were introduced to Australia in the 1870s for “recreational hunting”.

Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister David Basham said the bounty scheme followed a successful program in Victoria, and a similar one in South Australia targeting wild dogs south of the dingo fence.

“Foxes cause significant economic losses to farmers by preying on newborn lambs, calves, kid goats and poultry,” he said.

Foxes were introduced to Australia in the mid 1800s for “recreational hunting” Now there’s a bounty on their scalps in South Australia.

“Since they were introduced … in the mid-1800s, foxes have spread across most of Australia with the economic impact of the pest nationwide estimated at around $227.5m per annum.”

Mr Basham said foxes were also responsible for the decline of ground-nesting birds, reptiles and small and medium-sized mammals such as the greater bilby.

More than 20,000 foxes could be killed as part of the program.

Foxes are particularly abundant in areas regularly home to large numbers of rabbits, including in the Murray Mallee and Upper Eyre Peninsula. In South Australia’s pastoral areas, north of Port Augusta, regular baiting means producers rarely report seeing them.

The government does not measure fox numbers but reports suggest they have rebounded to a more stable population in recent years after the calicivirus was released to control rabbits.

The fox bounty will be offered for two years or until the money runs out, with scalps collected at specified locations, in conjunction with other industry meetings, workshops or field days.

Between 10 and 100 scalps per property can be presented at each collection day, and each property owner can claim up to 300 a year.

Only livestock and poultry producers can claim the bounty, the government says, to ensure funding benefits farmers and prevents claims being made for foxes killed interstate. The bounty runs until August 1, 2023.

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