Over the last three years, Barron Catchment Care has gathered information on new and exciting technologies in the fight against Feral Pigs. Darren Marshall, eminent feral pig researcher, says “have no doubt about it, this is a war (against feral pigs)”. Darren emphasises that best results have come from a coordinated approach through shared knowledge from farmers, landholders, and others.
Barron Catchment Care, through its contractors, GPS Trapping, has trialled drones for recording crop losses; tagged feral pigs with Ceres Tag GPS trackers; mapped feral pig movement and surveyed local landholders on their use of the new pig poison, Hoggone.
Graham Schoorl, of GPS Trapping (Contractor for Barron Catchment Care) said, “In this project we had an emphasis on testing humane control methods – to find which ones work best. The results of data we’ve captured and trials we’ve been part of have been interesting. We’ll be describing control methods and presenting results at a Shed Meeting on November 28 at Halloran’s Hill Lookout in Atherton”.
Barron Catchment Care encourages landholders to come to the meeting and share their own experiences of feral pig control and hear the latest on new technologies like drones, BoarBuster traps and Hoggone poison.
This program is part of a Community Engagement project funded through the Department of Agriculture’s National Landcare Program (Smart Farms Small Grants – Round 3).