Elsternwick Park North: rampant foxes slaughter wildlife at abandoned golf course
Bloodthirsty foxes are running rampant in a popular Bayside park slaughtering wildlife but the council has no strategy to stop the pests.
Inner South
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Bloodthirsty foxes running rampant in Elsternwick Park North are slaughtering wildlife, but Bayside Council has no strategy to stop the pests.
Instead the council will continue its blitz on dog owners who allow their pets to roam the park unleashed.
The dog blitz is a measure to protect wildlife and preserve vegetation as the council transforms the 14ha park from a golf course into a nature reserve.
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Regular visitor Peter Hede said the park had become a haven for foxes since the council closed the course in June last year.
“In its current abandoned state, foxes are a danger to birdlife, native animals and children in the area,” he said.
“I don’t see foxes on the bowling green or VAFA oval, so they appear to thrive in the unkempt environment.”
Acting Environment, Recreation and Infrastructure Director David Smith said maintenance at the park was restricted to mowing and mulching and he was aware there were foxes there.
The Elsternwick Park Association said foxes were killing wildlife.
“Foxes are certainly in the park and we know they have killed swans and ducks,” Dr Jo Samuel-King said.
“We will develop a habitat strategy with the council and pest management including foxes will be a part of that strategy.”
Mr Smith confirmed this but said there was little the council could do at the moment.
“We cannot bait, shoot or trap foxes in case dogs or other animals are affected,” he said.
“(The) council can potentially fumigate dens in breeding season, which takes place in spring.”
But Dr Samuel-King welcomed the council’s dog blitz.
“It’s important those dogs are on a leash,” she said.
Bayside Dog Alliance spokeswoman Amanda Levi said it was appropriate for dogs to be on a leash but labelled the council’s crackdown “heavy-handed”.
“We welcome the increased signage at the park, but this an education process for many owners who used to have their dogs off-leash when it was a golf course,” she said.
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