Dubbo landholders, producers push for NSW Government to introduce fox bounty
Bush communities are placing pressure on the state government to introduce a fox bounty, as they struggle to deal with the “never-ending” problem posed by the pests.
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Foxes are killing livestock and native fauna in increasing numbers in the NSW bush, igniting a push for the state government to introduce a bounty scheme.
Concerned about foxes killing his lambs and natural wildlife on his 50-acre block, Dubbo landholder Matt Hansen has started a new wave of advocacy across the state’s central west region.
Mr Hansen told The Daily Telegraph “it’s not only sheep and poultry production that is suffering”.
“It's the damage to our native flora and fauna,” he said.
“Foxes kill millions of native animals every year and they’re just terrible. They kill birds, lizards, tortoises.”
In Victoria, there is a $10 bounty reward for each fox scalp collected, and $120 for each wild dog body part.
The southern state other employs other fox management processes, including poison baiting, fencing and fumigation.
The NSW Government has, meanwhile, supplied more than 400,000 fox baits to farmers and landholders in the past year.
It says it has also provided fox baits to more than 4300 properties and helped to protect 11 million hectares of the state from the threat foxes pose.
A spokesman for NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said landholders were “likely to see an increase” in fox numbers because it was currently mating season.
“Bounty systems have been used in an attempt to reduce fox impacts in Australia since the late 19th century but have consistently failed to achieve that outcome,” the spokesman said.
“Bounties encourage the use of control techniques such as ground shooting and trapping and, for most pest animals, these are relatively inefficient techniques and should only be used to support more efficient approaches such as coordinated baiting and aerial shooting.
“Landholders have a shared responsibility to control pest animal species and prevent new pest animals from establishing on their land.”
However, based on what he described as the “successful” Victorian scheme, Nationals leader Dugald Saunders is advocating for a bounty system in NSW.
“Residents across several communities, including in my electorate of Dubbo, are demanding for more to be done to control this harmful pest,” he said.
“I am calling on the NSW Agriculture Minister to recognise this significant issue and to look for better ways to manage fox populations.”
Cassie’s Fresh Eggs owner Cassie O’Neill said there had been two fox attacks in her Dubbo yard, with one killing 13 chooks and the second claiming the lives of about 20.
She said she had taken preventive measures by installing fences and locking the chickens up when she was unable to supervise them.
“A fox bounty would be great as it isn’t only up to the Matt Hansens or Cassie O’Neills of the world,” she said.
“There is an incentive for other people to get involved too.”
Ms O’Neill said she wanted to provide farm fresh eggs for Dubbo residents, but chickens were expensive to replace when they were attacked.
NSW Farmers board member and fox expert Alan Brown said a bounty would be a useful tool to try to eradicate pests in the state, in conjunction with current methods.
“The tools for handling foxes are quite sophisticated now and could be very expensive,” Mr Brown said.
“So if we could encourage more people to take up better methods of fox control with a bounty, it would only benefit the whole environment and farmers, of course.”
“They’re a never-ending issue that are difficult to deal with, so we need every tool we can get.”
Foxes have also been causing problems in metropolitan areas, with one south-west Sydney school having to introduce “armed” measures to control the pests.
Hurlstone Agricultural High School, at Glenfield, has hired contractors to kill red foxes in the grounds.
Based on “observation and historical records”, a NSW Department of Education spokeswoman said there were between 20 and 40 red foxes on the selective school grounds.
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