AVA Conference Gold Coast 2020

Feral pigs are a well-known pest to agriculture and the environment, and their impacts demand intervention. Several methods (including shooting, trapping, poisoning exclusion, recreational and commercial harvesting) are available to reduce feral pig populations or their impacts, but most are applied at only local scales. Long-term reductions in pig populations are hampered by ineffective control techniques, the lack of follow-up control to suppress population recovery, and the limited application of control at the scale to reduce immigration from uncontrolled populations. Landscape-scale eradication is generally considered unfeasible, so feral pig management for any purpose should aim at reducing impacts – current or potential – to acceptable levels. Best-practice management approaches require a clear understanding of the aims of control, with ongoing monitoring and adaptation essential to ensure that aims are being achieved. This presentation discusses feral pig management techniques, programs and strategies applied in Australia, and their relevance and adaptation for effective ASF management.