National dingo Preservation and Recovery Program

The National Dingo Preservation and Recovery Program today expressed disappointment at the Victorian Labor government's decision to resume aerial baiting for wild dogs in north-east Victoria and Gippsland.

The Victorian Minister for Agriculture, Joe Helper, announced a budget of $1.2 million for the resumption of aerial baiting of wild dogs.

NDPRP President, Dr Ian Gunn, today stated that the resumption of aerial baiting would likely prove counter productive in controlling wild-dog numbers and be a significant waste of public finances.

'Aerial baiting trials have been conducted before in Victoria and found to be largely ineffective. It is concerning that it has been resurrected as part of an election campaign.'

Dr Gunn encouraged the Victorian government to take seriously the body of expert opinion that suggests that indiscriminant baiting and trapping of wild dogs and dingoes may be in fact exacerbating the very problem that farmers wish to overcome.

'Recent research has concluded that the lethal control of dingo populations destabilizes pack structures, which can lead to increased breeding rates. In a stable pack, or family unit, only the dominant female usually breeds, limiting the wild-dog or dingo population. If a dominant female or male is killed through baiting or trapping, then subordinate females are free to breed, producing more pups than usual.

Pups which result from fractured packs are less likely to be territorially constrained and may not be taught to hunt properly. Such 'poorly-educated' juvenile dingoes are more likely to resort to easy prey, such as sheep on farmland. Many farmers have been mystified as to why wild-dog numbers have been increasing despite increased levels of poisoning and trapping. This is why.'

While Dr Gunn applauded the Victorian government's recent listing the dingo as threatened wildlife, he called upon the Minister for Agriculture to encourage farmers to adopt non-lethal methods of wild dog control, rather than an escalation of poisoning.

'In the past, the breaking up of pack structures has also facilitated the hybridisation of dingoes with domestic dogs. New approaches to farm stock protection need to be adopted, rather than simply persisting with very expensive control methods that simply don't work in the longer term.'