Feral pigs (Sus scrofa) were first brought to Australia
with the white settlers as a food resource, but escapees were so
successful in their new territory that they were considered a
nuisance by the late 1790's.
There are estimated to be between 4 and 23 million feral pigs in
Australia at any one time. This figure varies according to
environmental variables such as drought.
Feral pigs occupy close to 40% of mainland Australia and are
found in all states but are most abundant in New South Wales,
Queensland and the Northern Territory.
They are the second most damaging animal to our agricultural
industries, causing around $106 million per year of damage to
livestock, habitats, fences and water sources.
Reported densities have been 1>20 pigs/sq km around Arukun in
the Northern Territory (1990) and at times up to 40 per sq
km. Their breeding rate is part of the reason for
their establishment success and difficulty of eradication.
Pigs can breed from the age of 7-12 months, and usually produce one
or two litters of about six piglets each year. However, many
piglets do not survive.
Pigs are omnivorous. They can eat eggs, bird
chicks, reptiles, frogs, soil organisms, earthworms and other
invertebrates, carrion, fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs and
plant foliage. They prey on newborn lambs and reduce yields
of cereal grain, sugarcane, fruit and vegetable crops.
Estimates of up to 40% of newborn lambs are taken by feral pigs in
some parts of Australia, and it has been estimated that they are
regularly responsible for lamb losses of between 18.7% and 32% in
the arid and semi-arid rangelands.
They are also a serious disease risk. Feral pigs can carry
about 20 different exotic diseases, including diseases that affect
humans. The entry of exotic diseases, such as classical swine
fever, Nipah virus or foot-and-mouth disease could destroy
Australia's export industries and have a devastating effect on the
national economy, the Cattle Council has said. An outbreak of
foot-and-mouth disease could cost the country anywhere between $2
billion and $13 billion.
A NSW Department of Conservation and Climate Change report
recently found that feral pigs were a threat to 81 threatened
species in that state alone, ten of these by direct
predation.
Control measures usually include trapping, ground and aerial
shooting and poison baiting.
<more
information>
What are we doing?
The IA CRC has invested considerable resources to
improve control by developing a more target-specific and humane
means of baiting for pigs. Our initial feral pig
work has focused on delivery of a commercial, shelf-stable
bait, PIGOUT®.
The product will enhance the ability of land managers to reduce the
impact of feral pigs and may be of considerable benefit in
instances where large numbers of feral pigs have to be controlled
at short notice, such as in an exotic disease outbreak.
The first generation product, using the traditional poison 1080,
will be backed up by longer-term research investigating the
development of more pig-specific toxins.
This work
is supported by Australia's red meat industries through Meat and
Livestock Australia and is a collaborative effort with a range of
state agencies across Australia. The pig bait development
project links closely with demonstration
sites within the Uptake Program.
We are also working with national and international
collaborators to investigate the delivery of vaccines or
contraceptives as another alternative.
