A wild dog photographed wandering in urban bushland near homes and roadsides. Image – Lana Harriott.

WILD dog and pest control in Victoria will be boosted by more than $840,000 in funding over the next three years from Australian Wool Innovation.

Australian Wool Innovation is working with the Victorian Government through Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning to lock in another three years of work to control wild dogs.

AWI is providing $840,990 over the three-year period from July 2020 for the Victorian Vertebrate Pest Management (VPM) Coordinators project, which is an upgrade to the existing Victorian Community Wild Dog Coordinators project. The Victorian State Government is contributing $204,000 a year to the project.

AWI chief executive officer Stuart McCullough said he is pleased the important work in the north-east and Gippsland regions will continue.

“AWI heeded calls from growers for this investment to facilitate community baiting back in 2012 and have continued to invest each year.

“What makes it successful is the goodwill that exists between government and private landholders to manage the negative impact of wild dogs in a coordinated landscape wide approach using all available tools,” he said.

Project to include control of pigs and other pests

AWI said while the project’s focus will remain on wild dogs, it will also now include other vertebrate pests like feral pigs impacting Victorian wool growers.

“Growers have reported success and wild dog attacks have declined.

“The challenge for the community and for the coordinators is to maintain participation in sustained management to keep impacts of wild dogs suppressed,” Mr McCullough said.

As a response to the devastating 2019/20 summer bushfires AWI has allocated an additional $45,000 to assist with the rollout of autumn wild dog management programs to protect remaining livestock and native wildlife.

“This is another way AWI is helping Victorian growers with practical on farm assistance,” Mr McCullough said.

Source: AWI.