Australia ‘losing the war’ against feral pests

Australia is ‘losing the war’ against feral animals, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in lost food production and farm profits.

Feral red deer in the Grampians in Victoria. Picture: Steve Morvel

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

Australia is “losing the war” against feral animals, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in lost food production and farm profits, as federal funding runs out and ­experts demand greater support.

Farmers and invasive species experts warn the fight against ­destructive pests such as deer, rabbits and wild pigs is still “ad hoc” across and even within states.

Funding is inadequate and often mistimed, not allowing control and eradication programs to hit feral species when they are most vulnerable, due to drought or flood.

The Invasive Species Council said feral deer had increased tenfold in two decades, from 200,000 to up to two million, costing about $100m a year in impacts, mostly on agriculture.

There are now an estimated four million feral pigs, with an even greater estimated impact of $156m a year on agriculture.

Rabbit numbers, too, have ­escalated sharply after a number of good seasons, as the main weapon against them – calicivirus – loses effectiveness.

Deer population growth

Federal funding for national co-ordination for the fight against deer, pigs, cats and foxes runs out in June, while farmers and the ­Invasive Species Council are calling for commitments by both major parties this election.

“Most of our feral species numbers are absolutely booming after a number of years of pretty good seasonal conditions,” said Jack Gough, Invasive Species Council interim chief executive. “Particularly on the eastern seaboard, feral pigs are out of control and having an enormous impact on agriculture and environment.

“It’s getting worse, climate change is driving changes to distribution, increased global trade means we have more and more new threats coming into Australia, and the agencies responsible for these things are at breaking point.

“We’re getting increasingly ad hoc bursts of funding whenever there’s a bit of political pressure, rather than long-term focused and strategic investment in feral animal control. All of that means that we are losing the war.”

Mr Gough said federal funding for three key co-ordinator programs – for feral deer, pigs, and cats and foxes – was due to expire on June 30.

“These national co-­ordinator roles are really important because feral animals don’t respect boundaries, they don’t care about land tenure,” he said.

“It is essential to get effective control in the landscape. More bullets doesn’t mean more impact with federal animals. At times of abundance you can shoot millions and have almost no impact. What we need is strategic, co-ordinated investment.”

Mr Gough called on the Albanese government to announce new four-year funding for the ­national co-ordinator projects, “essential” to the sharing of lessons and methods between jurisdictions and to securing cross-tenure support for control measures.

“We are concerned that if a decision is not made soon, or it’s pushed out until after the ­election, the key staff in those roles will start looking for new jobs,” he said. “We could be losing expertise, relationships and the investment put into those roles.”

Feral pigs on the march in NSW.

The 2023 National Deer Action Plan, which aimed to stop the western spread of deer, had not been sufficiently funded.

“We know that the six species of feral deer we have could take over the entire continent – they could be turning up in Kakadu, the Kimberley, western NSW and western Queensland in the next few years,” he said.

“The national plan, signed up to by all state governments, sets up a containment line from Melbourne through western NSW up to Rockhampton in Queensland, and says ‘we’re not going to allow deer to spread further’.

“West of that we were going to eradicate deer and stop them ­taking over. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen a level of funding to be confident that it’s working.”

This federal election, the council was seeking commitments of $28m to the national deer plan and $60m to the National Feral Cat Threat Abatement Plan.

“Without that scale of commitment, we are not confident there is going to be the action required to reduce these threats,” he said.

Feral deer on the Gold Coast caught on cameras. Picture: Gold Coast City Council

Farmers are backing the push. Ted Rowley, a former Snowy Mountains beef cattle farmer now growing potatoes in Victoria, said greater federal funding and co-­ordination was vital.

“The most important thing with feral deer control is co-ordination across different jurisdictions,” said Mr Rowley, who is independent chair of the Feral Deer National Act Plan Steering Committee.

A feral pig on an Australian property. Picture: Michal Renčo/Pixaba

“Deer and pigs are not bothered by state boundaries. They’re not bothered by property boundaries, nor by the legal jurisdiction. If one group doesn’t co-operate in a plan to control a pest animal, you’re done. Our neighbours and we were shooting 4000 to 6000 feral deer in a year and it was like taking a bucket of water out of the Pacific Ocean.”

Agriculture Minister Julie Collins declined to comment on the funding requests, but a government spokeswoman said it would continue “delivering for Australian farmers”.

“This includes working with states and territories and land managers, who have primary ­responsibility for the on-ground management of established pest,” she said.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said the Coalition would “consider all policies and industry requests, but any funding must be able to demonstrate real outcomes”.