Record cull fails to curb rampant pest explosion costing state dear

The cull of feral animals ripping up some the state’s best national parks and farmland hit a toll of more than 200,000 in the past year but experts say they still remain a dangerous scourge.

The cull of feral animals ripping up some the state’s best national parks and farmland hit a toll of more than 200,000 in the past year but experts still warn their rampant numbers remain a dangerous scourge.

New figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph show the extent authorities have gone to try and curtail the rampant numbers of feral animals roaming the state, brought on by multiple seasons of plentiful rain and feed.

In 2024, 61,344 feral animals have been removed from National Parks using aerial shooting, ground shooting, trapping and mustering.

That included 24,468 goats, 16,419 feral pigs, 7,285 wild horses and 4,143 deer.

Millions of feral pigs are still tearing apart pristine NSW countryside.

Meanwhile, NSW Local Land Services launched multiple campaigns targeting feral animals ravaging farmland across the state, with control efforts launched across 9,002 properties ranging from bait drops, to trapping and culling.

Their campaigns resulted in 129,266 feral pigs being removed, as well as 10,354 feral deer.

Grain grower and cattle producer Jack Pearlman, who farms at Yetman in the state’s New England region, was one of the landholders who partnered with Local Land Services, with 98 days of trapping carried out on his property.

Aerial shooting in March also resulted in 2,431 pigs being culled in the region including on his property.

“We never would have guessed that we had as many feral pigs on our property until we consistently kept trapping every day and kept getting pigs,” Mr Pearlman said.

“What’s scary is that they’re still around, and if we didn’t do these control programs or receive the support from Local Land Services, we wouldn’t have known how large the problem was until it was too late.”

Invasive Species Council advocacy director Jack Gough welcomed more action being taken to control ferals, but said it paled in comparison to the “multi-millions of pigs” roaming the state.

A pig trap used by Local Land Services across NSW. Image: supplied

“Ad hoc, dispersed shooting of pigs across the state is basically a drop in the bucket,” he said.

“The ability to target is very easy at the moment – but that’s basically a drop in the ocean compared to the pig and deer population.”

“Just chucking huge amounts of money out the door when populations is high is often meaningless.”

Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said benefits were already being seen in National Parks across the state.

“Dealing with invasive species is one of the fastest and simplest ways to protect and restore the environment,” she said.

NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said management this year had led to “incredible results on the ground”.

“Pest animals threaten native plants and animals and can cause significant damage to agricultural lands, the environment, and cultural heritage sites, plus introduce biosecurity threats,” she said.

“This year we have seen incredible results on the ground, with the Government teams working with public and private landholders of more than 9,000 properties to remove more than 129,000 feral pigs and 10,000 feral deer.”

Do you have a story for The Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]

Originally published as Record cull fails to curb rampant pest explosion costing state dear