Barron Catchment Care fighting growing feral pig problem

Barron Catchment Care has obtained $50,000 through the federal Department of Agriculture's national Landcare program for the pilot project, using Ceres ear tags and a BoarBuster trap.

"The Atherton Tableland is a smorgasbord for pigs now," Barron River catchment coordinator Sheryl Fitch said. "We want to start something before it gets too big to manage."

Ms Fitch said the approach they were taking, to use GPS data to create maps showing tagged feral pigs' movements and where they travel with changing seasons, what foods they're eating, where they sleep, and when and where they wallow, would give them a lot of accurate data.

"How much pigs move around really does surprise people," she said.

They were originally planning to fit tracking collars to two pigs, which was all that could be afforded under the grant, but switching to ear tags with satellite tracking units meant they could expand to watching 10 pigs.

Ms Fitch said they were anticipating some excellent data with eight extra pigs unwittingly working for them.

She hoped the results would show the community the value of joining together to fight the problem, saying that was needed even more than on open downs country.

The data may leverage more funds for ongoing feral pig control, she added.

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The project to track feral pig movements in the Barron River catchment began earlier this year when Graham Schoorl of GPS Trapping installed a bait station in the Baldy Mountain forest reserve at a site selected by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger-in-charge, Roger James.

The pigs were pre-fed at the site to develop their taste for the bait food and to become comfortable at the trap site.

Shortly after sunrise on November 2, the first of the pigs was sedated and tagged by vet Ryan Cockrem, accompanied by local farmers and representatives from Barron Catchment Care, QPWS, the Tablelands Regional Council, and GPS Trapping.

Mr Schoorl said five pigs had been tagged so far but there were still opportunities to tag five more, and they were keen to hear from landholders who were willing for them to tag and release a feral pig on their land.

He said they wanted to have the tagged pigs spread round the district, including around Mount Bartle Frere, because it wasn't known whether they travelled on mountains.

"We'll retrap and dispose of the pigs after a couple of years, after we've seen where they go at different times of the year, comparing wet and dry seasons," he said. "At the moment, we're just guessing."

They will also be euthanising any pigs that are caught in the process of trapping to tag a pig, and are operating with a permit to tag and release pigs.

In the meantime, community shed meetings will be held every three or four months so that tracking maps can be inspected and discussed.

"We'd also like to hear about people's efforts to control feral pigs, what's working and what isn't," he said.

Mr Schoorl and his wife Patti Jeffers both grew up in the region and said they had seen feral pig numbers explode since producers on the Atherton Tableland swapped out of dairy into cane and cropping.

They've seen 140 pigs removed from the 444ha Wongabel State Forest in the past two years, and have helped a neighbour reduce a $13,000 loss of productivity to a $3000 loss the following year, and to no loss of money last year.

They hope that by collecting photographs and information on crop losses as well as understanding pig behaviour, a picture of how much feral pigs are costing economically can be built up.

"People are saying it's a problem that comes from national parks - that's what the project aims to find out," Mr Schoorl said.

"Others want pigs around for recreational hunting - that's got a place in mopping up what can't be trapped.

"There's definitely enough to go around."

Ms Fitch said another reason to work cooperatively to control pigs was because the waterways and creek where they were wallowing were being degraded and eroded.

"That ultimately affects the Great Barrier Reef," she said.

Mr Schoorl said landholders often regarded pig control as an additional job, whereas they hoped that by seeing how much damage was done, they'd work on a plan to build pig control into their annual plan.

He added that national feral pig management coordinator Heather Channon had expressed interest in the ongoing project.

"We're giving it our best shot," he said.

Landholders interested in participating can contact Barron Catchment Care at coordinator@barronrivercatchment.org.au or Graham Schoorl on 0408 284 281.

Mr Schoorl said that the ideal time to trap pigs was now, following the cane harvest and before the wet season started in earnest.

"On the Tablelands there are so many sources of food - corn, cane, potatoes, peanuts - that it's hard to tempt them into the bait station at times," he said.

If a tagged pig is found or killed by hunters, we ask those members of the public to call Graham at GPS Trapping on 0408 284 281 so he can retrieve the tag.

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