Gympie council approves cuts, caps to wild dog and pig bounties

The Gympie council has voted to drastically cut the bounty it offers for wild dog and dingo scalps, and feral pig snouts.

The price paid for a wild dog scalp in the Gympie region is expected to drop from $40 to $25.

The bounty for a wild dog scalp in the Gympie region has been cut by almost half and a hard cap placed on how much can be paid out as part of an overhaul of the decades-old scheme to help control feral animal problems.

The changes were unanimously adopted at Wednesday’s general meeting, with councillor Warren McEwan saying the new system “gives us the benefit of the public not being able to abuse our generosity as it was before”.

Councillors will consider the reduction as part of a wider overhaul of the region’s long standing bounty program, which has been in place since before amalgamations.

Under the former policy the bounty paid for a wild dog or dingo was $40, and feral pig $10.

The new plan slashed the payout for a wild dog or dingo to $25.

This was in line with what is offered at the Somerset and North Burnett council areas: $20 and $25 respectively.

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The bounty for a wild dog scalp in the Gympie region is expected to drop with the council proposing to cut it from $40 to $25 per animal.

The South Burnett council remained as the best paying among neighbouring councils at $36 per wild dog scalp.

Wild dogs and dingoes are “restricted” animals under the state’s Biosecurity Act.

They, along with feral pigs, are recognised by the Gympie council as “a threat to the economy, the environment, human health, and social values throughout the region”.

A 2009 report by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre put the cost of wild dogs to Australia in livestock losses, spread of diseases, and burden of their control, at $48.5 million each year.

The Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Noosa councils do not pay any bounties for wild dogs, a report accompanying the proposed changes says.

Feral pigs are an ongoing problem for many farmers in the Gympie region. The bounty on their heads will soon be cut, if a plan by the Gympie council is adopted at its last meeting of 2024, on December 18.

The new scheme puts an annual cap of $500 on the total amount paid to a single person for the snouts and scalps.

Only Gympie residents and landowners will be able to claim the bounties.

A budget of $20,000 would be aside for the program in 2024-2025, with the scheme to be suspended once that fund was exhausted.

Additional funding could be added, and the total budget would be reassessed each year.

For residents and landowners to claim a wild dog bounty they must provide a scalp in one full piece of the animal including the nose, top of the head, ears, about 100mm wide strip of the back and the tail.

Frozen scalps were preferable, although dried and salted scalps were acceptable too.

Feral pig snouts must be the full circular end for the bounty to be paid.

No money is paid for piglets with a snout of less than 20mm.

Originally published as Gympie council approves cuts, caps to wild dog and pig bounties