Feral pig bounty, five-year funding, announced in $300m biosecurity plan
June 13 2026
A bumper $300 million biosecurity packaged was announced at the NSW Nationals annual conference in Albury on Saturday. Pictures supplied.
In a race against time to beat growing numbers of feral pests, the NSW Nationals and Liberals have pledged $300 million to boost biosecurity across the state.
The funding package, announced at the NSW Nationals annual conference at Albury, including an official trial of a feral pig bounty, and guaranteed funding for pest control and research.
If elected in 2027, the Coalition would also roll out five-year funding cycles for pest animal control programs, following recommendations made in a review conducted by the National Resources Commission.
The NSW Nationals annual conference in Albury heard from members and policymakers looking to shape the agenda ahead of the NSW state election in 2027. Picture supplied.
State Nationals leader Gurmesh Singh said feral pigs had been left to run rampant under the current government, and urgent change was needed.
"Through commonsense measures, we are committing to reducing the number and impact of feral pigs across NSW," he said.
"Put simply, this investment means stronger biosecurity and less pigs."
Opposition leader Kellie Sloane said biosecurity threats risked becoming commonplace without intervention.
"I've seen first-hand the devastating impact of feral pigs on the farming sector, eating newborn lambs, damaging water sources, fences and pasture, and raiding agricultural crops," Ms Sloane said.
"Without urgent action on biosecurity, our agricultural industries are at serious risk."
Invasive Species Council chief executive Jack Gough welcomed the announcement as a "serious proposal" to get boots on the ground, and tackle one of the greatest threats to the Australian landscape.
"Numerous reviews have found that pest management in NSW is strategic, short term and underfunded. This needs urgent change," he said.
"The proposal to increase the legal expectations on public land managers for feral animals is also an important recognition that many crown land managers are failing to protect the environment and communities from feral animals."
Feral pigs captured feeding on a property in the early hours of the morning. Picture supplied.
Support for baiting, shooting and trapping programs was also announced in the package, along with increased legal requirements for public land managers, and a permanent regional rapid response team to manage outbreaks.
Shadow environment minister Jacqui Munro said defending critical native ecosystems started with reducing the burdens of invasive species.
"Australian wildlife and habitats are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of hoofed animals such as feral pigs and deer," Ms Munro said.
"Regional landholders are some of our most important environmental stewards. By working with them, this plan delivers practical, on-the-ground solutions to manage invasive species, improve agricultural productivity and reduce environmental harm."
Shadow agriculture minister Brendan Moylan, who recently lambasted state Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty for refusing to confirm continued funding for the Feral Pig and Pest Program said it was time to act.
"We know feral pigs are causing enormous damage to crops, livestock and the environment. The time for talking has passed," he said.
NSW Nationals leader Gurmesh Singh said action was urgently needed to battle invasive species across the state. Picture supplied.
Further election commitments announced by the Coalition included reinstating the regional seniors travel card, and guaranteeing regional NSW a 25 per cent share of all infrastructure funding.
The travel card would provide eligible seniors in regional NSW with a $250 prepaid card for fuel, taxis, and pre-booked train or coach tickets, to boost accessibility for older residents outside the city.
"Unlike people living in metropolitan areas, regional seniors often need to travel considerable distances to access medical appointments, specialist health services, shopping and other essential services," Grafton Senior Citizens president, Brian Hall, said.
"We simply don't have the same services or public transport options on our doorstep."
The NSW Nationals conference ran from Thursday, 11 June, until Saturday, 13 June.
The great long weekend cull: more than 4000 feral pigs wiped out in hunts
The Land
June 12 2026
Some of the winners of the Mungindi pig competition Dan, Porky O'Neile, Peter Green, Alan Moore, Andrew Carlisle, Temple Hutt and Morgan O'Neile (front). Picture supplied.
A total of 4064 feral pigs were killed between two competitions over the King's Birthday long weekend, battling the pests while also raising vital community funds.
The Mungindi Border Boar Hunt, recorded a total 757 pigs weighed and a further 2271 kills accounted for, while at the Ivanhoe pig competition a total of 259 pigs were weighed with a reported further 777 left in the paddock.
Mungindi Border Boar Hunt organiser Rohana Morrow said it was a very successful weekend, the first competition held in the area since about 2019.
Ms Morrow said it was restarted to reduce the number of pigs plaguing the area to support farmers, along with helping the local community.
With 65 teams, more than 120 people entered the hunt, which she said travelled from all over.
"We had a really great turnout of the women's categories and even all the kids that turned up and put entries in," she said.
Funds were raised throughout the event for the Mungindi Border Rifle Club and men's mental health organisation Are you Bogged Mate?
Ms Morrow said auctions were also conducted with proceeds going to Mungindi Central School for their first ever Year 12 formal.
The heaviest boar was 127.5kg, killed by the Pork Patrol team, and the heaviest sow was 83.45kg, recorded by the Boundary Boars.
With the success of the weekend, Ms Morrow said they would love to continue the event next year.
Pictures supplied
Down at the Ivanhoe competition organiser Josh Robertson said in its eleventh year the event attracted 69 teams with hunters coming from everywhere, including Wagga Wagga, Mildura, Vic, and Melbourne, Vic.
"It generates a lot of money for the town - for the servo, the pub and the club," he said.
"Along with the smaller towns along the way like the Homebush Hotel at Balranald would get a fair bit from it and the Booligal pub."
The heaviest boar recorded in the Ivanhoe competition was 103.5 kilograms, killed by the Gotta Hold of em team, while the heaviest sow was 83.5kg, recorded by K&S Sows.
Along with the pigs, hunters also nabbed rabbits, foxes and feral cats, which included from The Macs team who killed the most number of foxes with 142.
Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association president Ned Makim said pig hunting competitions like these underlined the power of the community-based natural resource management approach to pest control, killing a large number of pigs in a short timeframe.
Mr Makim said the state's pig management focus needed to expand to include local competitions to capitalise on the energy and enthusiasm of recreational hunters willing to invest massive money into controlling feral pigs.
"The research already shows hunters who kill more than 1.6 million pigs annually in NSW can be managed to focus intense campaigns on localised areas at no cost to the taxpayer," he said.
"Why isn't that potential harnessed by the DPIRD and Local Lands Services to cuts costs and increase yields?
"It is frustrating that a willing cohort of many thousands of hunters supported by a good management team and very good data to support them isn't considered worth getting past a few bureaucratic hurdles to assist in making some genuine progress in this space."
'Every pig counts': could this be the
secret weapon in the war on pigs?
Queensland Country Life
May 25 2026
Brock Threlfall with the biggest boar for the 2026 Hotel Euramo's boar bash weighing in at 97.3kg. Picture supplied
When governments struggle to control Australia's exploding feral pig population, can grassroots hunting competitions fill the gap left?
If Hotel Euramo's boar and barra bash in North Queensland is anything to go by, the answer is positive.
Over four days during the May Day weekend, 110 feral pigs were eradicated and weighed in at a whopping 4893.85 kilograms in total.
Event organiser Tish Ottone said pig hunting competitions like this one could be an effective tool in supporting efforts to manage the feral pig problem.
"It didn't cost ratepayers or council or the Banana Growers Corporation or Canegrowers any money at all," she said.
This was the fourth year this event had run in the area south of Tully and every year more people have participated and more boars culled.
In 2023 there were 89 people registered across the event with 39 pigs culled, and in 2026 there were 233 people registered with 110 pigs culled.
Over four days 110 feral pigs were eradicated and weighed in at a total of 4893.85kgs at the 2026 Hotel Euramo's boar bash. Picture supplied
Over the four years the event had been running the feral pigs culled have weighed a total of 15,279.85kg.
"Every year we get more and more people, and bigger and bigger prizes, and more and more kilos," Ms Ottone said.
"We've more than doubled what we've done in our first year.
"It just shows that there are more and more people getting into it but there is very much still a feral pig problem."
Ms Ottone said the problem could be helped by a little bit of healthy competition and bragging rights.
Over the four days there were five competitions for the boar competition, biggest boar, biggest sow, biggest tusks, aggregate weight and mystery weight.
"One, I think they really do enjoy it, it is a sport for them - it is a hobby for them," Ms Ottone said. "Two, it's bragging rights as well and we have some pretty good prizes."
Jackson Dickinson with this 58.1kg Boar with 16cm tusks, the biggest tusks for the 2026 Hotel Euramo's boar bash. Picture supplied
And how does this compare to the feral pig numbers seen culled across Queensland so far this year?
Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association national president Ned Makim said about 360,000 pigs were culled between January and April this year in Queensland.
"It is a comparable number to other years. The amount of pigs hunters can get however is largely weather-based and of course the cost of diesel this year," he said.
"It hasn't been unduly affected, based on the information we have, and we don't suggest our numbers are definitive - they are indicative."
Earlier this year the Department of Primary Industries initiated an aerial feral pig control program in the Gulf of Carpentaria following widespread flooding in north west Queensland.
"This operation, led by DPI, was an opportunistic program to take advantage of environmental conditions where feral pigs were trapped on high ground or moving slowly through boggy terrain, presenting ideal conditions for this aerial control activity," a spokesperson for the DPI said.
"More than 5400 feral pigs have been removed under the operation since its commencement in January, with the second phase expected to continue until the end of May.
"While DPI does not maintain feral pig culling statistics on all funded programs, the department remains focused on population suppression and reducing the impacts of pest animal species on agriculture, the environment and community."
The DPI is currently reviewing feedback received following the consultation of the Queensland Feral Pig Management Action Plan 2026-2031.
The spokesperson said the plan would provide a framework for localised action to reduce feral pig populations and protect the natural environment.
Ned Makim said feral pig competitions can be a very positive tool in the management of pig numbers. Picture supplied
Mr Makim said that every pig counted, and so pig hunting competitions could be a very positive tool in the management of pig numbers.
"The big benefits of pig hunting competitions is they focus a lot of hunter activity in any given area, in any given time," he said. "It's a great motivator to get hunters to work in a somewhat coordinated way."
Co-ordination between hunters and the government was a key element of pest control according to Mr Makim.
"We have unsuccessfully so far sought government departmental support for hunting competitions to help bridge the gaps between formal pest control operations and the activities of recreational hunters," he said.
"We would love to see more competitions and more government support as it provides an opportunity to expand the conversation between recreational hunters and government-based pig control plans."
A hunter himself, Mr Makim said big competitions like the Hotel Euramo's boar and barra bash can bring hunters together for knowledge sharing.
"Hunters by nature are individualistic and self-sufficient. Competitions can bring them together, in a way that provides the opportunity for education as well," he said.
"When you've got a lot of hunters together in one spot, there are opportunities there to talk about standard operating procedures."
'Now there are mobs': why control
non-participation is fuelling pest crisis
Queensland Country Life
May 6 2026
Margie Lee-Madigan, Broadmere, Nanango, has seen an explosion in pest numbers at her 2300-hectare cattle operation. Picture supplied.
A fifth-generation beef producer has seen a dramatic increase in the number of feral pests on her property, with the local council also saying numbers are the worst they have been.
Margie Lee-Madigan runs the 2300-hectare Broadmere, a commercial grass-fed Santa Gertrudis operation north of Nanango, with her two children Bridget and Jack.
She said she'd seen feral pest numbers swell rapidly in recent months.
"There's a considerable increase in dogs in the last four to five months - we have sent a good number of scalps into South Burnett Regional Council," she said.
"The pig activity has also increased dramatically. We would see one or two pigs every few years, now there are mobs of pigs.
"We do our own shooting as well with that, and I get hunters in as well, so on a personal level I believe I've got it under control."
She said she thought the increase was partly because of a good season, but also because other landholders weren't following their general biosecurity obligation.
"The season has been phenomenal so you would expect better breeding of pigs and dogs," she said.
"But I also believe that rural landholders in the whole area and the whole shire don't take advantage of the baiting, trapping and shooting options, and hence why feral animals are out of control."
Ms Lee-Madigan will be participating in South Burnett Regional Council's wild dog and feral pig coordinated baiting program from May 11-15 and urged other landholders to do the same.
"Whoever is eligible by law to be involved, they should be," she said.
"The council offers baits free of charge twice a year, at the peak dog time and pig time, and I just know that there are not enough people that are eligible to take that up as rural landholders.
"They're not doing it and I believe that's the reason why the problem has escalated. It takes years for it to escalate, but it's escalated.
"It is really simple to do, takes less than a day out of your time.
"For me as a beef producer it protects my stock, and also you protect wildlife as well - dingoes do a lot of damage to native wildlife as well as to other things."
The South Burnett Regional Council has said feral pig and dog numbers are the worst they've been, according to landowners, trappers, hunters and mustering pilots. File picture.
A council spokesperson said it ran coordinated baiting programs in May and September/October each year, and also worked with landowners during heavy infestations at other times.
"The upcoming coordinated baiting program is a local government initiative to encourage all land users to coordinate efforts at peak times," they said. "However, in recent times we have had increased concerns raised from residents and landowners regarding feral pigs and wild dogs.
"Feedback from landowners, trappers, hunters and mustering pilots has indicated that feral pig and wild dog numbers are currently the worst they have been in the region."
The spokesperson also urged landholders to get involved in the baiting program.
"Council's coordinated baiting programs are currently growing from program to program, and we expect this upcoming round to have high involvement from landholders," they said.
"To be successful, all relevant stakeholders need to be involved. We must use all tools available to minimise risk, including baiting, trapping, aerial shoots and habitat reduction where possible.
"The program is less effective if there is non-participation from neighboring landholders.
"However, if those neighbours are trapping or shooting during this time, they are still considered to be participating in pest control. Council retains records on landholders who implement their own biosecurity programs such as trapping and shooting."
Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association president Ned Makim backed the need for pest control and said recreational hunters should be included in organised suppression methods.
"The South Burnett is a really productive part of the Australian agricultural world. One of the downsides of that is that it allows for a rapid build-up in pests, be they weeds or animals," he said.
The Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association has said it supports strong and persistent action against pest animals. File picture.
"The sorts of damage that can be done there by an overabundant pig population and wild dogs is significant.
"It's not just an impact on individual land managers and what they're trying to produce; because of the South Burnett's significance in agriculture, the impacts of pests in that area go to Australia's bottom line.
"It goes to the amount of food and fibre we can produce, which ultimately has an impact on food security and biosecurity, both of which are of immense importance.
"In that context, we absolutely recognise the need to take strong and persistent action against pest animals.
"The difficulty we see with all pest control is that it's intermittent. One of the reasons why hunters contribute so much to pest control is that they don't stop; they're out 24/7 - weather doesn't stop them, staffing schedules don't stop them - and so you need that as a base, with other big hits that can come in from the public purse.
"We'd love to see all organised pig control expanded to include recreational hunters because they will be able to provide that on-ground presence and the broad-scale suppression of the population when the formal control programs have stopped."
Ms Lee-Madigan said despite the good season, she was now hoping for wetter conditions.
"We're in a phenomenal season but obviously we'd be looking for rain now heading into winter," she said.
"The last rain was about March 13, which was a flood, and it really hasn't rained since. As a grazier, I would be looking hopeful for rain in the foreseeable future."
Culling kicks off in national parks,
but are control programs flying blind?
The Land
April 21 2026
Budelah Nature Reserve, on the banks of Macintyre River, was one of twelve recently included in aerial pest control by NSW National Parks. Picture by Jessica Stokes, DCCEEW.
The numbers are in on the latest round of pest control in NSW national parks, with more than 12,000 invasive animals culled across reserves across the state's north-west so far this year.
Aerial culling teams removed more than 3000 vertebrate pests in a recent 82-hour action across the Bourke region, targeting pigs, goats, and deer.
The numbers climbed to a total 12,640 animals controlled by the program, including 7023 pigs, 4664 goats, 603 deer, 243 horses, 58 cats, 37 foxes, nine wild dogs, two donkeys and one camel. Further pig and cat control efforts from Local Land Services pushed the total to 19,44
Pest control has remained in the sights of landholders, including those neighbouring state conservation areas and national parks. In a fight against the clock, advocacy, conservation, and hunting groups have called for expanded funding to combat the growing threat.
"The perception that actions to date have been effective are plainly wrong," NSW Farmers' environment policy director Nick Savage previously told The Land, after a new review into pig and deer management in NSW was announced in March.
"We need to break breeding cycles and have coordinated actions from government and landholders."
Endangered species like the Mount Kaputar giant pink slug (Triboniophorus sp. nov. 'Kaputar') can be impacted by feral pig diggings and direct predation. Picture by Leah Pippos, DCCEE
While Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association president Ned Makim supported the review, he said without numbers on invasive species populations across NSW, producers, pest controllers, hunters and parks staff were effectively flying blind.
"We have nothing to gauge the success or otherwise of any of our programs against, and that's where I'd like to see the debate going to next," he said.
"None of us have enough data to be able to say who is gaining any ground, if any of us are at all."
Mr Makim said the 'top-down' approach to managing invasive species was clearly not working, and called for greater engagement with grassroots hunters, land managers, and Local Land Services staff.
"One of the theories in the pest management is to focus on impacts rather than numbers, but we can't even work that out if we don't have a better estimate of how many pigs there are," he said.
"More dead pigs (and other vertebrate pests) indicate that we're heading the right direction.
"But how much of an impact that is having is absolutely up for debate, because we don't have the key numbers."
NSW Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) director northern inland branch, John Whittall, said the results showed the scale of work underway across the district, particularly for sustained pest animal control.
"We're working closely with neighbours, local communities and Aboriginal Owners to deliver coordinated, landscape-scale outcomes that benefit both the environment and surrounding landholders," he said.
"With more work to come this season, including aerial baiting, we'll continue to build on this momentum and target feral animal populations where they have the greatest impact."
A spokesperson for NPWS confirmed further operations were also slated for Toorale State Conservation Area and National Park, Macquarie Marshes, Gwydir Wetlands, Narran Lake Nature Reserve and Gwydir River State Conservation Area, Gundabooka SCA and NP and Culgoa National Park.
"All NPWS field staff contribute to pest management programs, with rangers involved in planning and delivery, specialist staff providing coordination and oversight, and field officers involved in preparation and delivery," the spokesperson said.
"NPWS notifies all neighbouring landholders at least two weeks prior to operations. This includes aligning aerial and ground-based pest control activities with Local Land Services and neighbouring properties to maximise effectiveness across the landscape."
Remote areas like those in Warrumbungle National Park were targeted with specific aerial shooting. Picture by John Spencer, DCCEEW.
The NPWS aerial culling program has not been without controversy, after five domestic horses were shot and killed at Thurloo Downs as part of culling in the newly acquired national park in late 2025.
At the time, state Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said there was "nothing good" about the incident, with a "terrible outcome".
"There had been an incident where [National Parks] were working for a couple of days, and they shot five domestic horses that were owned by the neighbours next door that were on the Thurloo property," Ms Sharpe told NSW Parliament in October last year.
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Hunters get a voice as NSW DPI names advisory board
Sporting Shooter Magazine
by Royce Wilson
A number of pro-hunting voices have been appointed to the NSW Game and Pest Management Advisory Board, to provide advice to the Minister and Department of Primary Industries (DPI) on matters including feral animal control, research, educational courses and opportunities relating to game hunting.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) this week formally announced the appointees on the Board, which represents the interests of licensed hunters in relation the to the Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002, which covers R-licence hunting in state forests, among other matters.
The appointees are:
- Andrew Macaulay (Chair)
- Ella Cameron
- Naomi Jackson
- Ned Makim
- Peter Shepherd
- Robert Costello
- Timothy Pryor
- A nominee from the Australian Veterinary Association; the specific person is to be confirmed.
NSW DPI has said that, collectively, the Board appointees “include representatives of regional NSW and have expertise, skill or knowledge in the areas of pest management, wildlife, veterinary science, hunting, education and community engagement”.
Australian Pig Doggers & Hunters Association (APDHA) president Ned Makim is among the appointees and said he was thrilled to see his name on the list.
“I’m thrilled for a couple of reasons — one is that, to me, it’s an elevation of traditional pig hunting with dogs and it’s a recognition of that culture’s contribution to the economy and ecology of NSW,” he said.
“Personally, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to represent all hunters, at a high enough level to help the voice of your average hunter be heard.”
Mr Makim said part of the Board’s role including acting as a conduit between hunters and decision makers, and there were many keen shooters and hunters on the Board.
“We’ve had a get-to-know-you meeting and from that I was greatly encouraged by the attitudes and skill level, and enthusiasm of the people on the committee,” he said.
“I’m taking it as a great opportunity to advance the understanding of the contributions hunting makes to NSW.”
The Advisory Board can be contacted via gameandpest.advisoryboard@dpird.nsw.gov.au.
Katter Party to draft laws allowing regulated hunting in state forests
Queensland Country Life
December 15 2025
The legislation would be about giving recreational hunters more of an opportunity to help bring feral pig numbers down, according to Hill MP Shane Knuth. File picture.
Member for Hill Shane Knuth says a private members' bill to allow recreational hunting on public land will include strict measures to protect public safety.
Mr Knuth announced on Friday, December 12, that Katter's Australia Party would draft legislation to allow regulated recreational hunting in Queensland state forests, to help control rising feral pig numbers.
The move came days after Mr Knuth pressed the state government in Parliament to adopt the NSW model to license hunters on public land to help control rising feral pig numbers.
The bill would include strict measures and checks to reduce any risks to public safety, according to Mr Knuth.
"Recreational hunters' passion and determination to reduce feral pig numbers is mind-boggling; we are talking about people waiting in dense scrubland for hours on end," Mr Knuth said.
"This is about giving them the opportunity to get out there, make a difference, and help bring the pig numbers down.
"We will be consulting on the legislation with a range of groups, but also looking at the model that's in place in NSW.
Mr Knuth announced on Friday, December 12, that KAP would draft legislation to allow regulated recreational hunting in Queensland state forests. File picture.
"[On public safety], people looking for a licence would go through stringent processes to get approval."
Queensland lawmakers could make two main changes to the NSW model to reduce any risk to public safety, according to Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association president Ned Makim.
"In NSW, people looking for permission to hunt on public land have to abide by the rules of an approved hunting organisation, among other requirements," Mr Makim said.
"Showing that they are an ongoing member of one of these organisations, not just a member at the time of the application, would help with vetting processes.
"So would requiring approved hunting organisations to show they can get public liability and personal accident insurance independent of the government.
"Insurance companies are risk averse by nature: they tend only to go with hunting organisations that have a level of reliability, rigour, and reputation."
Queensland lawmakers could make two main changes to the NSW model to reduce any risks to public safety, according to Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association president Ned Makim.
The NSW government provided insurance to people who had a valid licence to hunt on public land at the time of writing, according to a government website.
Mr Knuth said the bill would also explore staged access to national parks.
"This will not happen overnight; we won't put a target date on [introducing the bill to Parliament] because it's important to get it right," Mr Knuth said.
"KAP staff will do this work; we don't have state departments to do the work for us.
"We are still looking to the government to take this on."
Environment Minister Andrew Powell said there were no plans to allow recreational hunting in Queensland's protected areas.
"The effective control of feral animals is a serious issue in Queensland - one that requires a high level of coordination across public and private land, with opportunities for recreational hunting on land where private landholders choose to engage them," Mr Powell said.
"The Crisafulli government has invested $133 million to enhance our national parks, including our 'more rangers, better neighbours' policy to better manage Queensland's protected areas.
"Recruitment is already underway for an additional 120 Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers who will specifically target fire hazards and pest management."
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King's long weekend hunting competition
at Ivanhoe destroys 2208 pigs
The Land
June 12 2025
Team Pork Patrol included Brad Dowdy, Josh Sampson, Steve Lambert and Matthew Smith, pictured on the way to the Ivanhoe weigh-in at the weekend. Picture supplied
A long-weekend competition has removed 2208 feral pigs - among other key pests - from the far-western NSW, while providing a $134,000 boost to the local economy.
The Ivanhoe Pig Comp, held on the King's Birthday long weekend, has been running for 10 years.
The event is a competitive pig hunt staged as a fundraiser by an Ivanhoe-based volunteer team, which had a tally of 2208 pigs, as well as wild dogs, feral cats, foxes and rabbits, from 521 hunters operating across 94 teams, collected in two days and nine hours.
Hunters sign up as teams and lodge a paid entry to compete for prizes awarded in categories including heaviest boar. Hunters can also collect prizes for feral dogs, cats, foxes and rabbits within the time period of the contest.
Chief organiser, kangaroo harvester and farm contractor Josh Robinson, said the success to the decade-old event had led to larger incentives for entrants, with this year the most successful yet.
This year's pig competition also fed data into the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association research unit in a pilot program to add depth to the information available on pig hunter contribution to the Australian community, while focusing on locally run pig comps as a pig management tool.
APDHA national president Ned Makim, Inverell, said the subsequent analysis produced some significant results.
"First, we had to develop an apples and apples comparison so the data from the comp and the averages from the 2024 Great Australian Pig Hunt could be directly compared," Mr Makim said.
"Once that was achieved, it was revealed Ivanhoe competitors removed an effective monthly yield of 53.46 pigs each - a sizable jump on the national monthly average of 17.06 pigs per hunter established in 2024."
Mr Makim said the finding suggested pig comps, such as the Ivanhoe community project, deserved a much higher level of recognition for their potential in the battle to manage what was one of, if not the, most significant invasive pests in the nation.
"Comps like this are like dropping a hunter bomb on the pig population in a big circle around the weigh-in site," he said.
"They (competitors) kill a lot of pigs in a very short time and at no cost to the community. Indeed, there is a payoff to the community and community organisations.
"We will be taking this information to everyone in the pig management space as part of our open communication policy. We think everyone benefits if information and intent is shared freely.
"Our intent is to highlight the contribution of hunters, work on ways to include that contribution in big picture management and broaden the discussion about pig management while keeping the focus on removing as many pigs as possible from the agricultural and natural environment."
Mr Robertson said he was already looking to next year's event and was keen to see what the future holds.
"This is a small community, but we can put in a big effort, and we will look to continue building this pig comp each year," he said.
"It's all volunteers, of course, so some of our future is based on who is available to help and what support we get in terms of sponsorship, but our sponsors have been very generous to us so far.
"There looks like there's no reason not to keep growing."
Mr Robinson said the competition also had the benefit of boosting the local economy, providing an estimated $134,000 - or more.
The Ivanhoe RSL Club took a reported $33,000 on weigh-in day and the Ivanhoe Service Station was pumping between 5000 and 8000 litres of diesel at the weekend.
"Last year I sold 3000 raffle tickets at $100, this year it was more than 4500," Mr Robinson said.
He said the raffle prizes included a side-by-side, a quad bike (with rollover protection), and the third prize was a single, raised floor dog kennel.
The total number of hunters was 521, including 334 men, 57 women and 55 juniors aged from 13 to 16 years, with 75 under the age of 12 years.
Mr Robertson said the heaviest boar was taken by the team called Poos Porkers, weighing 94.5 kilograms. The heaviest sow, at 107kg, was taken by the team Bloodlines.
Two wild dogs were taken by the team Missing Up Bones, while the team Dogs N Hogs N Shooting Red Dogs took 42 foxes.
The team called Plate Ya Hounds was recognised for destroying 15 feral cats and 350 rabbits.
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Hunting’s exclusion from ‘best practice’ pig control puts brakes on programs
The Riverine Grazier, Hay NSW
RURAL
February 19, 2025
By Krista Schade
Key findings from the 2024 Great Australian Pig Hunt survey
Estimated feral pigs killed: 5,387,412
Estimated economic input by pig hunters: $326,882,615
Estimated cost per pig to hunters: $60.67
Estimated average pig yield per month: 15.61
Source: APDHA survey of hunters between January 1 to December 31, 2024
The top-down approach to NSW feral pig management needs to be reversed if there is to be any hope of real progress in managing NSW worst agricultural pest, according to the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association (APDHA).
National President Ned Makim said the relegation of landholders and hunters to commentators in the feral pig debate betrayed an ideological blockade that needed to be addressed if there was to be any hope of making progress.
“There is this endless head scratching going on about what to do about feral pigs but whenever a change of focus is suggested, we hear the same old ‘not best practice’ dismissal which flies in the face of the evidence.”
Mr Makim’s comments came with the release of the final report on the APDHA’s Great Australian Pig Hunt data collection exercise which suggests hunters killed 1.69 million pigs in NSW in 2024 from a national total of 5.38 million Australia wide.
“Even if those estimates are divided in half, it still represents a massive reduction in pig numbers let alone their breeding potential and yet, hunting is still dismissed by the shot callers in the feral pig debate.
“The issue as we see it is twofold: A feral pig management narrative that holds tight to the myth that hunting achieves nothing and belief that government agencies should be the starting point for all control planning.
“We believe that’s upside down.”
Mr Makim said the people with the most to lose from feral pigs in NSW were farmers, the people who know the most about feral pigs and their behaviour were hunters and the people with the resources to carry out very focused control measures were Local Lands Services staff.
“Why isn’t NSW Farmers, for instance, the agency that drives this machine?
“Why wouldn’t the NSW farming community be given the authority to say this is the issue in this space at this time.
“Hunters can offer advice and be involved in programs aimed at ongoing population suppression and LLS can bring millions of dollars to bear on targeted programs with the advice and guidance of the farming community.”
Mr Makim said his comments should not be seen as a criticism of the LLS and its capabilities but a suggestion on the better deployment of those capabilities.
“It’s time this debate was had and that many of the assumptions on feral pig management challenged.
“Pigs outbreed our current level of adaptive planning. The model just isn’t working and the skills and potential of many in the public and private sector are being underused.”
Mr Makim said exclusion of hunting from “best practice models” looked odd when the numbers of pigs killed by hunters were considered.
“It starts to look like an ideological thing rather than a management model.
“We understand the need for some sort of central co-ordination and we understand concerns about the welfare of the animals considered pests but those things can be managed better by involving the relevant parties and giving them a genuine voice.
“The only mention of anything that sounds close to hunting is in relation to ‘ground shooting’ and the context is of that method as a clean-up, presumably after baiting, chopper shoots, trapping etc.
“If you want to use a dog it must only ‘flush’ a pig to be shot.
“We understand that some people don’t like dogs making contact with the pigs but the ‘flush’ limitation betrays a lack of understanding (based on a lack of consultation) on the use of dogs.
“We have asked for the word ‘bail’ to be added to best practice. That is the action in which a dog locates a pig and barks or stares at the pig to keep it contained so it can be shot.
“This is demonstrably a much better welfare outcome for the pig because the shot is taken at a still target.
“So far all we have heard is crickets.
“That one small change would open the door to greater, co-ordinated and managed hunter involvement in formal control programs and a great deal more dead pigs.
“Why the delay?
“We need much faster movement on feral pig management issues and change to who is calling the shots.”
A feral pig bounty pilot program, offering $20 per snout, has been trialed and tested in regional NSW
7News
Hamish Southwell
Feral pig bounty trial puts concept to the test to show potential benefits
The salted pig snouts were all collected, with 1427 all up for the month. Picture supplied
Exclusive
By Elizabeth Anderson
February 19, 2025
The Tottenham branch of NSW Farmers has trialled a bounty for feral pigs, with the hope it could go statewide as numbers of the pest surge.
A pilot program has shown the potential benefits of a pest bounty, amid calls to try new methods to tackle the issue of feral pigs.
With the NSW Farmer executive adopting a policy of advocating for a $20 feral pig bounty to incentivise professional and licensed recreational hunters late last year, an association branch in central NSW decided to put the concept to the test.
It follows The Land reporting last week that while the Local Land Services had culled 170,000 feral pigs across two years, hunters had removed 1,692,625 pigs in half the time.
Tottenham pig bounty trial coordinator Ben Nicholls says much of the territory where these pigs were captured had been the site of an LLS program just months earlier. Picture by Elizabeth Anderson
Tottenham pig bounty trial coordinator Ben Nicholls says much of the territory where these pigs were captured had been the site of an LLS program just months earlier. Picture by Elizabeth Anderson
"We have a large feral pig population and nothing seemed to be getting anywhere - there were more pigs not less," he said.
"We thought a bounty might be a way forward."
After the NSW Farmers' executive council adopted the policy, Mr Nicholls, with the urging of the association's president Xavier Martin, decided they needed to prove the concept.
The Tottenham branch partnered with the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association, which collected the data, and approached hunters in the local area to take part.
Among the conditions, the pigs needed to be hunted ethically and humanely, with verifiable legal property access, and records kept of the location, sex and age of any pigs captured.
To validate the numbers, the hunters needed to recover and salt the pig snouts.
While there was no budget for the bounty during the trial, everyone involved was encouraged to act as though the $20 per pig would be paid.
APDHA national president Ned Makim said the trial showed while hunters were not the complete solution, they could play a part and had the capacity to maintain constant pressure on populations, "especially with a small payment to help cover their costs".
He said APDHA research showed there was an average cost of $60.67 per pig for hunters.
"However, cost is a factor and some assistance in that will keep them out longer and more often. It is also very likely more hunters will set and manage traps," he said.
"We are convinced a $20 bounty return on each pig would increase hunter activity and effectiveness."
Mr Nicholls said one of the biggest benefits was that information was recorded directly into the APDHA app, which showed where pigs were captured and how many.
"Our aim is to do the same all across the state," he said.
"Then LLS would know where the hotspots were immediately, rather than six months later.
"The beauty of the bounty is it captures all-size pigs, not just the big ones, and reduces the numbers quickly and permanently."
In the one-month period during January, nine hunters were active, with some shooting, some with dogs and some trapping, although the wet weather did make trapping difficult.
In the end, 1427 pigs were captured across a 50,000-hectare area, for a total hypothetical cost of $28,540.
Statewide, LLS has $13.1 million budgeted for its Feral Pig and Pest Program in 2024-25, and in a six-month period controlled 33,058 pigs across 4.03 million hectares.
Mr Nicholls says taking into consideration the potential half-year budget of $6.5 million, that equated to $198 per pig removed, versus the $20 of the bounty.
"We would be able to active all over the state at once, not a helicopter in one area," he said.
"Without continual hunting pressure they breed up quickly and move in from surrounding areas.
"We would also see the extra money spent in the towns - at the moment it goes to helicopter companies."
While Mr Nicholls did not take part in the trial himself, as he wanted to remain impartial, one of his neighbours did and he can see the benefits.
"I can see a distinct difference in the number of pigs," he said.
He said pigs had caused considerable damage on his property, including damaging crops, spreading leptospirosis in unvaccinated young cattle and - in one case - a boar in a lambing paddock is believed to have taken about 30 per cent of their lambs, based on scanning.
Mr Nicholls said he could not understand the reluctance of the government to institute a bounty on pest animals.
"With cans and bottle returns, it's basically a bounty and it's been a huge success," he said.
"There's not a lot of difference."
At last year's NSW Farmers conference, Premier Chris Minns said his government would not consider a bounty on feral pigs.
The Land asked the government if that was still the case and if it considered the present program good value for money. There had been no official response before deadline.
Legal hunters part of the rural crime solution
7News
Hamish Southwell
Outshoot and outsmart: hunters cull 10 times more feral pigs than government
The Land
February 11 2025
Hunters in NSW culled nearly 1.7 million feral pigs in 2024, according to the Great Australian Pig Hunt report. Picture suppled by APDHA.
More than 170,000 feral pigs have been culled across the state following a two-year effort from Local Land Services, as one hunting organisation has reported culling nearly 10 times as many feral pigs in half the time.
The Great Australian Pig Hunt, held by the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association, reported 1,692,625 pigs culled across NSW through 2024, nearly ten times greater than numbers reported by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in half the time.
The association's national president, Ned Makim, said it was time to face the numbers, and formally include hunters in pest control efforts as pest populations soar.
"There is this endless head scratching going on about what to do about feral pigs but whenever a change of focus is suggested, we hear the same old 'not best practice' dismissal which flies in the face of the evidence," he said.
"Pigs outbreed our current level of adaptive planning. The model just isn't working and the skills and potential of many in the public and private sector are being underused.
"We understand the need for some sort of central co-ordination ... those things can be managed better by involving the relevant parties and giving them a genuine voice."
Local Land Services held more than 150 workshops since 2023, working directly with landholders to personalise responses and establish pest action groups for their local areas.
Jack Pearlman saw more than 1000 pigs culled on and around his property at Yetman. Picture supplied by DPIRD.
Yetman grain grower and cattle producer, Jack Pearlman said he was surprised to see such high numbers of feral pigs on 1900 hectares across two properties. The cull was part of a sustained pest management campaign organised alongside Local Land Services from February to September last year.
"We never would have guessed that we had as many feral pigs on our property until we consistently kept trapping every day and kept getting pigs," he said.
"It's labour-intensive work but to learn different control methods and tools from Local Land Services and having their support to continually get on top of pig numbers over a longer period, showed me the impact you can achieve through longer control programs."
The program included 98 dedicated days of trapping, with more than 1200 pigs baited, trapped and killed.
"What's scary is that they're still around, and if we didn't do these control programs or receive the support from Local Land Services, we wouldn't have known how large the problem was until it was too late," Mr Pearlman said.
Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association National President Ned Makim said he would like to see more collaboration between hunters and government to manage feral pigs. Picture supplied by APDHA.
Mr Makim commended LLS for establishing hands-on management, but said there were opportunities to dig deeper in to all potential avenues for pest control on farm.
"The LLS has made progress in this area by involving more hunters in trapping programs for example. The workshops should include hunters talking about tactics and behaviours for hunters," he said.
"Hunters can offer advice and be involved in programs aimed at ongoing population suppression and LLS can bring millions of dollars to bear on targeted programs with the advice and guidance of the farming community."
Both hunting and environmental groups both agreed, the numbers of pigs culled are a drop in the ocean, as feral pig numbers skyrocket following good seasons and wet conditions.
Feral pig numbers have shot up across the state due to wet weather and quality feed. Picture supplied by DPIRD.
Jack Gough, acting chief executive officer at the Invasive Species Council said NSW had been 'singled out' for poor feral pig management, chasing numbers over results.
"The reason that the Natural Resources Commission has singled out the New South Wales government's pig program as a case study in how not to do feral animal control is because it's just a one year pulse of money at a time when the seasonal conditions are their absolute best, numbers are at their highest," he said.
"There's no strategy about where the pigs are removed. It's just try and get as many as you possibly can."
Agriculture minister Tara Moriarty said the program was a success, building on control efforts from previous years.
"The NSW Government is committed to supporting landholders to manage pest animals on their properties, including feral pigs," she said.
"Biosecurity is a shared responsibility and we all have a part to play, so it's fantastic to see landholders taking a proactive approach and working together with Local Land Services to control feral pigs."
Two males to front court charged with illegal hunting offences – Nyngan
From NSW Police
The Rural Crime Prevention Team in Bourke have charged two males in relation to entering private property agricultural land accompanied by hunting dog in respect to a rural property on Pangee Road, southwest of Nyngan about 8.30pm on the 28th of November 2024.
Police will allege that the males and the dogs were heard on the property by a male that was hunting with permission on the same property. The witness contacted the property owner and confirmed no other person had permission to hunt on the property. The witness approached the two males and spoke to them. Shortly after another witness arrived and photographs were taken of the males, the dogs and vehicle.
The matter was reported to police and Rural Crime Investigators from Bourke commenced an investigation into the illegal hunting and trespassing on the broadacre farm.
As a result, a 34 and 37-year-old male, both from Nyngan were issued with Court Attendance Notices to appear at Nyngan Local Court on the 25th of March 2025 to answer charges of Enter inclosed agricultural land accompanied by hunting dog.
These offences carry a maximum sentence of $13,200, 12-months imprisonment, or both.
The farming community in the Nyngan and surrounding area have expressed their frustrations in relation to persons illegally hunting on properties in the area, increasing a potential biosecurity risk to their enterprise, whilst also impacting their crops and causing emotional anguish.
This is an example of making an early report of a rural crime and having legal hunters on your property with your permission providing another set of eyes on your farm.
If you find yourself in a similar situation or victim of a rural crime, please call your local police immediately or in the case of an emergency with unknown people trespassing on your property call “000”.
If you have any information about people and vehicles trespassing and illegal hunting on your property, please call Crime Stoppers as soon as possible on 1800 333 000.
If you know something, please say something.
Have a great and safe weekend! 
Crime Stoppers NSW NSW Farmers The Land
'Someone's hunting somewhere': hunters put pest bounty in their sights
By Eliza Spencer
January 21 2025
Through the sight of his compound bow, Malachi Dutschke holds a life in the balance, and the potential to stop a feral pest in its tracks.
A long way from the offices of his law firm in Dubbo, to the family farm in Nyngan and in state forests, Mr Dutschke has honed his skills, hunting for meat and helping manage feral pig numbers on farm.
"My big influence was from growing up on a farm, watching the need to have pest control, seeing the devastation that wild pigs and foxes can cause to livestock and cropping country," he said.
"Hunting is not just killing for the thrill, but trying to source ethically-hunted meat, and enjoying the wide open spaces that Australia has to offer ... a part of it is for conservation and making sure that the amount of pests in Australia are kept to a minimum."
While the mindset between hunting for pest control and filling the fridge is very different, Mr Dutschke said a bounty, such as that proposed by the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, could help reduce costs for farmers fulfilling their biosecurity duties.
"It's going over nearly $2 a shell, for a bullet, and the number of pigs on our farm alone is just insane," he said.
"To go out every night shooting, you can be spending over $400 worth of ammunition and bullets ... I don't think a bounty is ever going to fully compensate a farmer for their assets, but it will go some ways towards assisting them."
Renewed calls for a feral pest bounty, from Shooters party chairman Robert Borsak, has drawn support from hunting organisations, including the Shooters' Union of Australia. But peak bodies for farmers and environmental organisations have warned against a "one-stop-shop" solution to the state's growing pest problem.
"When it comes to effective feral animal control, there are a few principles that are required. You need dedicated long-term funding for strategic programs, not ad hoc removal ... looking at areas where you can have the greatest impact, and the greatest impact is areas where the numbers are lowest before they get out of control," Invasive Species acting chief executive officer Jack Gough said.
President of the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association, Ned Makim, said a bounty could present an opportunity for "diametrically opposed methods" to come together, utilising best-practice pest management techniques alongside hunting.
"Where hunters are effective is consistent, broad scale, day-to-day suppression of peak populations," he said.
"It doesn't have the big, dramatic knockdown, but it's knocking pigs down, 24/7, every day of the week, someone's hunting pigs somewhere."
With a financial incentive added for culling higher numbers of pests, Mr Makim said there were greater opportunities for hunters to be active in different ways.
"If there is someone who perhaps might go and shoot a pig or chase some pigs with dogs when there's no bounty, they might also add a trap or two to the property if there is a bounty," he said.
"You have an expansion within the one area of the methods being used that can bring down the numbers of pigs in on a specific property."
The potential economic benefits were seen as a "double positive" bottom line for Mr Makim, where hunters would need to top up on food and fuel in regional communities.
But any financial benefit to the highly regulated pastime risks incentivising the 'wrong kind' of hunters. With details on how authorities would verify that animals were culled legally and ethically yet to emerge, Mr Makim said he would like to see penalties rise for illegal hunting and trespassing.
"There's a bottom end of every group in society, and people who trespass to hunt aren't doing anyone any favours. They're acting illegally. We want to see them prosecuted," he said.
"Apart from the costs and all that sort of thing and the inconvenience, there's a psychological stress that comes with people sneaking around on a property ... they don't know who's behind that spotlight they see."
Mr Dutschke added across the "broad spectrum" of hunters, the worst offenders would not likely stop poaching with, or without, a bounty.
"I don't think that risk is going to be heightened or lowered by a bounty," he said. "We have poachers on the property quite regularly. There's just no way, really, to avoid it."
Shocking outback footage highlights $300 million Aussie problem: 'Grossly underreported'
In Australia, some estimates suggest there could be as many as 50 million feral pigs running amok around the country, costing us millions.
·Senior Reporter, Yahoo News
Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association's Ned Makim said hunters and regional landowners desperately need help in the effort to eradicate feral pigs. Pictured is one example of how the pests can overrun farms in the bush. Source: APDHA/Supplied
Hunters, farmers and regional landowners are desperately calling for a more nationalised approach in tackling the country's spiralling feral pig problem, with some estimates suggesting their population has surged to as high as 40 or 50 million.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, President of the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association (APDHA), Ned Makim, said in 2024 hunters have eradicated over four million feral pigs. He said this figure alone debunks official government statistics which suggest there are 3.5 million of the pests nationally.
Makim said largely, the onus has fallen on locals and landowners in affected areas to eliminate the non-native species — who he likened to rodents, in that they are extremely prolific breeders, clever, adaptable and eat virtually everything — but, he said it's an expensive job with costs quickly adding up.
Makim suggested the country could benefit from a subsidised hunter's scheme, which may in turn entice others to join the cause. Posting video this week showing a cattle trough on a farm in Queensland's north completely overrun by the pests, he said such scenes are just the tip of the iceberg and in this instance, the animals likely "fouled the water", preventing cows from accessing it.
True population of feral pigs in Australia 'grossly underreported'
The Great Australian Pig Hunt has seen 4.86 million pigs killed so far this year by November, with $291,640,879 spent to do it, according to the APDHA.
"The estimation of how many pigs there are in Australia is grossly underdone," Makim told Yahoo News. "The minimum number of pigs is thought to be about three million and the maximum about 23 million. We think that it's at least double that higher figure, and maybe more."
By the end of this year, hunters across Australia "will have killed about 6.4 million pigs", according to Makim. "So that indicates that the lowest estimate is just unsupportable. It's wildly understated. There could be as many as 50 million," he said.
"We think hunters need to be recognised for their contribution to managing numbers and empowered to do more by opening up more public land to managed hunting — perhaps looking at paying hunters for the work they're doing, through either a bounty or contracting arrangements."
Makim said pigs recognise no boundaries, borders or fence lines, they "they just do whatever they want" — heightening the need for a more uniformed approach to population management across the country.
"You have to get all of them out of an area or as close to it as you can, to be able to manage what's left. We have a plague of pigs at the moment. There's just no doubt that's what it is — and that's Australia-wide. There's more pigs now than I've ever seen in 50 years of hunting them," he warned.
There might be as many as 50 million feral pigs in Australia. Source: Supplied
Why are feral pigs such a big problem?
Feral pigs are a major problem in the country due to their widespread environmental, agricultural, and economic impact. They cause extensive damage to native ecosystems by rooting and trampling vegetation, leading to soil erosion, waterway pollution, and the destruction of wetlands. This behaviour disrupts habitats for native plants and animals, and threatens biodiversity.
Feral pigs also prey on native species, including ground-nesting birds, reptiles, and amphibians, further endangering vulnerable wildlife. Makim said they are now so many of them, they're turning up at coastal areas and even on beaches, when formerly they were limited to the bush.
In agriculture, feral pigs stand to decimate crops. They ruin fencing and prey on young livestock like lambs and sheep. They contribute to substantial economic losses for farmers and pose a biosecurity risk by spreading diseases such as leptospirosis, brucellosis, and potentially African swine fever, which could devastate Australia's pork industry if introduced.
"Pigs are becoming more of an issue in suburbia now too," Makim said. "They're certainly on the coast, because they're ubiquitous, they can live anywhere."
As it currently stands, "the vast majority of the cost of managing pigs is being born by individuals and families" engaging in their cultural pursuit of hunting. "So the first thing we'd like to see would be to share the cost of that in some way," Makim said.
AHe explained that while eradication is paramount, it's equally as important that it's done so ethically.
"It's not like we hate them, they're just an animal going about an animal's activity, and they deserve the same right to a humane death," he said.
"That's what we owe an animal if we're going to kill it and the law prescribes that in Australia, everywhere that pig hunting is legal, it's allowed on the basis that the pig isn't subjected to unnecessary harm and unnecessary pain."
Hunters and Land Services unite to fight feral pigs
Sporting Shooter Magazine
October 2024
by Royce Wilson
https://sportingshooter.com.au/news/hunters-and-land-services-unite-to-fight-feral-pigs/?
One of Australia’s most active hunting organisations is working with a New South Wales Local Land Service (LLS) to develop practical solutions to the region’s feral pig problem.
The Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association (APDHA), the Northern Tablelands LLS, public land managers, deer hunting representatives and professional pest controllers all now sit on the Northern Tablelands Regional Pest Animal Committee (RPAC).
Initially founded in 2017, the Northern Tablelands RPAC is intended to inform development of the Regional Strategic Pest Animal Management Plan and has recently opened its doors to hunters to offer their point of view on control measures, as well as their expertise and field-based knowledge of feral pig behaviour.
APDHA national president Ned Makim sits on the RPAC committee and said the organisation was thankful for a seat at the table.
“From the hunting perspective, I feel we have something to offer, not just in terms of the numbers of pigs hunters remove, but in offering our insight into how pigs operate, landholder relations and long-term strategic thinking,” he said
“The roundtable nature of proceedings has also cultivated a sense of freedom to ask questions, offer ideas and disagree.
“I see it as a breakthrough in terms of the relationship between all involved. If you are all in the same room regularly, you get to know one another as people, rather than ideologies, and you find the way to respectfully discuss the issues.”
It is understood that last financial year, 1368 property holdings participated in pig, deer, fox and rabbit control activities with Northern Tablelands LLS, with 10,798 pest animals culled in aerial shooting programs.
In the media release issued by APDHA, Northern Tablelands LLS general manager Paul Hutchings said the diversity on the panel had created a broader approach to pest animal management issues and was already paying dividends via superb pig control outcomes.
“Northern Tablelands LLS sees hunters and professional pest controllers as providing the baseline level of control on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
“Our role then is to build on that with targeted programs that deliver in specific areas to maximise the return for the money we’ve been allocated.
“We’ve found the input of hunters to be very useful in terms of our consideration on program planning.
“We all have different roles to play but the more open the communication the better the understanding of those roles and their potential crossover for the public benefit.”
Feral pigs populating rapidly in the North West
NBN News
Tamworth Oct 5, 2024
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2024/10/05/feral-pigs-populating-rapidly-in-the-north-west/
Hunters and LLS share ideas to boost northern NSW pig control
The Land Newspaper
September 30 2024 - 5:00pm
Recreational pig hunters and Northern Tablelands Local Land Services (LLS) are working to find common ground in the management of surging feral pig populations.
A northern NSW committee model involving farmers, LLS, public land managers, researchers, professional pest controllers, deer hunting representatives and the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association (APDHA) has opened the door to free and frank discussions about roles in managing pigs and other species into the future.
Northern Tablelands LLS general manager Paul Hutchings said the diversity on the panel had created a broader approach to pest animal management issues and was helping focus on new levels of effectiveness.
The Northern Tablelands Regional Pest Animal Committee (RPAC) was formed in 2017 to inform development of the Regional Strategic Pest Animal Management Plan, and has opened its doors to hunters to offer their point of view on control measures and field-based knowledge of feral pig behaviour.
Mr Hutchings said the approach was paying dividends with some excellent pig control results in the Northern Tablelands.
"Northern Tablelands LLS sees hunters and professional pest controllers as providing the baseline level of control on a day-to-day basis," he said.
"Our role then is to build on that with targeted programs that deliver in specific areas to maximise the return for the money we've been allocated.
"We've found the input of hunters to be very useful in terms of our consideration on program planning.
"We all have different roles to play, but the more open the communication the better the understanding of those roles and their potential crossover for the public benefit."
APDHA national president Ned Makim Inverell, who sits on the RPAC committee, agrees.
"From the hunting perspective, I feel we have something to offer, not just in terms of the numbers of pigs hunters remove, but in offering our insight into how pigs operate, landholder relations and long-term strategic thinking," Mr Makim said.
"The roundtable nature of proceedings has also cultivated a sense of freedom to ask questions, offer ideas and disagree.
"I see it as a breakthrough in terms of the relationship between all involved. If you are all in the same room regularly, you get to know one another as people, rather than ideologies and you find the way to respectfully discuss the issues."
Last financial year alone, 1368 holdings participated in pig, deer, fox and rabbit control activities with Northern Tablelands LLS, with 10,798 pest animals culled in aerial shooting programs.
This is in addition to what hunters and farmers control-something the APDHA is quantifying in its Great Australian Pig Hunt data collection exercise.
Mr Hutchings said Mr Makim, the APDHA and the LLS were on the same page.
"Getting everyone involved and using all forms of control is required to stay on top of ferals, and having the key players at the table through our RPAC definitely helps."
US allies seek input on hunting politics
Xtreme Performance Outdoor Network, USA
September 16, 2024
Australian Pig Hunting!
Ned Makim from New South Wales, Australia makes another appearance on the Houndsman XP Podcast. Ned has spent a lifetime developing his skills as a feral hog hunter and does contract work.
Ned also heads up a wildly successful national hunting dog association . The Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association is a top level organisation. The organization has harnessed the energy to be a solid voice in wildlife management and is working to elevate the down-under pig doggers' influence in not only the hunting community but in the legislative process.
Ned and Chris talk dogs, hunting, and how we are going to continue to hunt in a rapidly changing world.
Channel 7 News Cairns reports on our research
7NEWS
Cairns
September 10, 2024
The Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association has revealed its members are removing upwards of 35,000 feral pigs in Queensland every week.
Ongoing research by the association is aiming to measure the effect the hunting community is having on numbers.
The latest estimate across the state was more than three times the number just two years ago.
The association is inviting more people to take part in 'the great Australian pig hunt' to improve its data.
The animal can have a devastating impact on crops and native wildlife.
7NEWS at 6pm.
Hunters kill 35,000 pigs a week in Queensland and want access to public land
by Royce Wilson
Sporting Shooter Magazine
September 6
Queensland pig-doggers are taking out about 35,000 feral pigs every week across the state, according to research by the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunting Association (APDHA) has.
APDHA president Ned Makim said the results confirmed what hunters and rural residents alike knew – that feral pigs are a plague, particularly in Queensland – but now that knowledge could be backed up with statistically sound data.
“We’re running a data-gathering exercise called Great Australian Pig Hunt, with the shooting industry putting up about $40,000 to help fund it,” he said.
Hunters register with the program and then report how many pigs they neutralise on hunting trips.
There is already a statistically significant number of hunters registered with the Great Australian Pig Hunt and their participation allows for robust data to be collated.
Mr Makim said the figures showed that across Australia, on average, each pig hunter was taking 17-19 pigs per month, using a variety of methods including firearms, bows and hounds.
APDHA data showed more than 35,000 feral pigs were being hunted in Queensland every week, but access to hunting areas in Queensland remained an issue.
Queensland does not permit any public land hunting whatsoever, which Mr Makim said was contributing to issues with illegal hunting, as well as leaving a lot of money on the table from a state economic perspective.
“In Victoria and NSW and the NT there is public land hunting that runs successfully, generates an awful lot of money for the economy and removes a lot of feral pests,” Mr Makim said.
“It’s inexplicable that Queensland wouldn’t look at a similar model.
“We think it would put downward pressure on illegal hunting in that it would be opening up more areas to legally hunt, and would require hunters to have some sort of licensing system which would more clearly identify people doing the wrong thing.”
Shooters Union has also used the figures to call for state forest hunting in Queensland, with president Graham Park saying the Queensland government needed to get over its irrational objection to opening public land to properly licensed hunters.
Mr Park said he believed a large part of the problem was that feral pigs were not a south-east Queensland problem and thus not on the Government’s radar.
“Feral pigs are largely a central and north Queensland problem, so they’re easy for Brisbane and Gold Coast-based MPs to ignore,” he said.
“You can bet if feral pigs were digging up and toppling lamp-posts in Ashgrove or mauling people’s pets in Paddington, the government would be a lot more interested in what amounts to free feral pest control.
“It needs to be reiterated: There are more than 200,000 people in Queensland with firearms licences who would be delighted to deal with the feral pig issue at absolutely no cost to the government or anyone else,” he said.
“The fact the state government cannot get over its dislike and distrust of licensed shooters is genuinely hurting the state’s environment, and that needs to stop.”
Renewed call for feral animal hunting to be allowed in Qld forests
By Sally Gall
Queensland Country Life
September 4 2024 - 6:30am
There are calls in Queensland for state forests to be open to hunters on a regulated basis. File picture.
Licenced firearms holders in Queensland have renewed calls for state forests to be open to hunters on a regulated basis, following revelations that members of the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association have been shooting more than 35,000 feral pigs on rural Queensland properties in a single week.
Shooters Union Australia president Graham Park said the revelation of the number of pigs shot by legal hunters showed the scale of the problem facing the state.
"To make a real impact on feral pig numbers, we need to let licensed shooters into state forests like they do in NSW and Victoria," he said.
The hunting of game and feral animals is not generally permitted on public land, such as state forests, in Queensland, despite its safe operation in most other states and territories, and in 2017, before the state election that year, the Australian Deer Association's Queensland branch called for public land to be opened up to licensed hunters.
Nothing resulted from that, and a Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service spokesperson said both the Department of National Parks and the Department of Environment had established legal arrangements with the Sporting Shooters Association Australia to support specific pest animal control and monitoring programs on state land.
Mr Park said the SSAA numbers wouldn't have been large enough to make a difference, but said there were more than 200,000 people in Queensland with firearms licences who would be delighted to deal with the feral pig issue at absolutely no cost to the government or anyone else except themselves.
"The fact the state government cannot get over its dislike and distrust of licensed shooters is genuinely hurting the state's environment, and that needs to stop," he said.
"We are calling on whichever government wins the October election to genuinely commit to a serious and properly undertaken feasibility study regarding hunting in state forests and unused Crown land.
"NSW and Victoria manage, so there's really no excuse at all for Queensland not to join them and collect the considerable economic benefits it would bring."
In 2017, the state government said it didn't support the introduction of hunting on state land for reasons including safety of community, doubts about effectiveness of hunting to control feral animals, and animal welfare issues.
Southern states have regulated programs - an R-licence in NSW and a Game Management Authority Licence in Victoria - which Mr Park said could allay inner-city concerns that people would be running amuck.
"It wouldn't be a free-for-all," he said.
"Everyone would want to gravitate to where the numbers are but in NSW, people have to book into certain places at certain times, for safety reasons.
"If you don't stick to that, it's the same as poaching.
"The key is doing this properly."
He said upwards of 5000 Queensland shooters already had a category-R licence and were shooting south of the border, where states were finding such a system financially advantageous, bringing in millions of dollars, as well as keeping feral animal numbers down.
"Shooters wouldn't be going onto private farming land but we know it's government land adjacent to places where the numbers are," he said.
Mr Park speculated that the issue was easy for Brisbane and Gold Coast-based MPs to ignore, given that feral pigs weren't an issue in the state's south east.
"You can bet if feral pigs were digging up and toppling lamp-posts in Ashgrove or mauling people's pets in Paddington, the government would be a lot more interested in what amounts to free feral pest control," he said.
"This isn't a wild suggestion, and it isn't really a gun thing.
"People like to hunt; why not let them be productive."
Hunters remove a whopping 35,000-plus feral pigs in Queensland a week
By Shan Goodwin
Queensland Country Life
September 2 2024 - 6:00am
Weipa pig hunter Gary Head on the job. Picture APDHA.
Pig hunters say they are on the same side as landholders when it comes to farm security and that the best way for farmers to steer clear of dodgy poachers was to have a legal hunter on the property.
Producers bringing hunters onto their property should ask for membership of the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association, which is a virtual card, and can call the association to further verify if required.
No one wanted poacher 'parasites' cracked down on more than the real hunters, the APDHA says.
Queensland pig hunters were removing more than 35,000 feral pigs weekly from the agricultural and natural environment, research run by the APDHA shows.
That's a massive contribution which could be put at risk by the spread of generalised misinformation about pig hunters being the ones to blame for the theft of things like fuel on farms.
APDHA Queensland president Mark Beattie said it was common for people outside legal, ethical hunting culture to inadvertently misuse descriptors but "we can guarantee no hunter who has achieved the holy grail of access to private Queensland property is stealing."
"Those people are poachers acting outside the law and we are very keen to see legislative change to further isolate these parasites," he said.
Mr Beattie said legal, ethical hunters were insured for public liability and personal accident. That provided protection for the landholder.
They also poured their own money into removing pest animals and no one came close to their effectiveness, he said.
Hunters also highly recommended farmers install security cameras and always assumed they were on camera.
Ongoing APDHA research aimed to quantify the contribution of the pig hunting community as pig numbers grow significantly and the latest estimate of weekly feral pig removal across Queensland was more than three times the estimate of two years ago.
Mr Beattie said the Keeping Count report estimates of pigs killed in QLD by pig hunters had trebled once data from this year's The Great Australian Pig Hunt project was analysed.
"This year, the data suggests pig hunters have killed at least 1,079,930 pigs from January 1 until July 31, a figure that marks the significant expansion of our research and the vast number of pigs in the Queensland landscape," Mr Beattie said.
The Great Australian Pig Hunt is a data collecting tool run as a competition in which registered hunters log in their catches on a monthly basis.
Mr Beattie said the estimated net contribution to the Queensland economy of pig hunters for that six months was $61,059,242.
Mr Beattie said hunters welcomed scrutiny of the data to help the association improve its methodology and the usefulness of the findings.
"Indeed, if any students of statistical analysis want to get involved, we have a project for you,” he said.
"The objective is to collect the data, report the data, have the data scrutinised and build better data gathering systems as a result.
"We believe the number of pigs in the Queensland landscape are severely underestimated and the numbers our hunters are apparently removing seem to bear that out."
Mr Beattie said legal, ethical pig hunters were one plank in the management of pigs in Queensland.
"But sadly, because of very narrow definitions of 'best practice' hunting numbers aren't being counted by anyone much and so the crucial role of volunteers tends to slide under the radar," he said.
NSW pig hunters leading the way on volunteer feral pig destruction campaign
The Land newspaper
August 28 2024 - 5:00am
Our own Courtney, waving the flag for all NSW pig hunters in The Land this morning.
NSW pig hunters could be removing more than 38,600 feral pigs weekly from the agricultural and natural environment, according to an updated study by the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association.
APDHA national president Ned Makim, Inverell, said the estimate was the latest in an ongoing research project that aims to quantify the contribution of the pig hunting community as pig numbers grow significantly across the state.
The new estimate is more than three times the 11,000 weekly estimates released about two years ago and follows a significant upgrade to the scope and style of research undertaken by the APDHA.
Mr Makim said the initial 'Keeping Count' report suggested that as many as 600,000 pigs are killed annually in NSW by pig hunters. However, the number trebled once data from this year's The Great Australian Pig Hunt project was analysed.
"This year, the data suggests pig hunters have killed at least 1,176,474 pigs from January 1 until July 31, a figure that marks the significant expansion of our research and the vast number of pigs in the NSW landscape," he said.
The Great Australian Pig Hunt is a data-collecting tool run as a competition. Registered hunters log in their catches monthly.
Incentives are randomly awarded to active participants through lucky draws, so there are no incentives for the number or size of pigs recorded.
The percentage of registered hunters represents the number of active participants.
That number is then applied to the total estimated pig hunter population in NSW to give the association an indication of how many hunters are in the field in any month (9732). The number of active hunters is multiplied by the average yield established by the Great Australian.
The latest research project coincides with the 2022 Keeping Count exercise, in which base numbers of pig hunters were estimated from various sources.
Mr Makim said the estimated effectiveness of pig hunting began with an assumption of one pig per hunter per year.
"We did that to provide an ultra-conservative modelling base. Now we have some real data to apply to the hunter numbers, and the results will likely be much closer to the truth."
Mr Makim said the APDHA's objective was to quantify the pig hunting community's pig management and economic contribution, but there was still a long way to go.
Hunting promises feature in NT win for CLP
APDHA news
August 25, 2024
The NT election has delivered a win to the Country Liberal Party. Congratulations to the CLP supporters and commiserations to Labor supporters.
What this means for hunters in the NT (such as Wayne who previously grabbed this boar in Litchfield Shire for our Great Australian Pig Hunt) is we have a clear blueprint on hunting policies to plan the APDHA’s hunting future in that part of our world.
Just to remind pig hunters of the situation there:
APDHA members have ongoing access to various National Parks to hunt with dogs.
On top of that we also have the promises of the CLP in relation to the future.
Those promises include:
- Open more Government owned or controlled land (Power and Water Corporation land and Land Development Corporation land) to general hunting, dogging pigs and bowhunting.
- Strengthening illegal hunting laws.
- Increase the size of the Harrison Dam Hunting Reserve.
- Identify a site for a new hunting reserve.
- Introduce an annual $50,000 grant to assist hunting organisations (such as the APDHA) to fund conservation efforts.
All of these policies were given the tick of approval from the APDHA prior to the election, and we look forward to getting started on that list with the CLP administration for the benefit of our members and the NT hunting culture in general.
Just a final note: our only interest in politics and political parties is who will do what for our members. Our political stance is limited to hunting and that is the only stuff on which we seek to comment or advise members.
Big thanks for hunter biosecurity efforts
APDHA news
August 17, 2024
And while we are on the subject of Queensland advocacy for hunters, we received this acknowledgment from Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for our work on African Swine Fever preparedness.
It is well understood in the commercial pork industry and within the Queensland public service that hunters will be central to spotting disease in wild pig populations and play a major role in suppressing the wild pig population. However, what was acknowledged during the four years of QLD President Mark’s attendance at planning meetings was how much hunters know about pig behaviour and breeding activity.
The next step for us is to ramp up our ongoing QLD public land hunting project.
We argue that managed access to public land will put further pressure on breeding populations of pigs while expanding hunters oversight of the health of wild pig populations.
The more eyes on them the better…
QLD Shadow Minister keen to talk pigs
APDHA news
August 17, 2024
This is Sam. Sam is one of our Queensland members and a great supporter of our research projects. On Sam’s behalf and on behalf of all our Queensland members this week we met with the Shadow Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Tony Perrett at his request to discuss his view of our pig hunters in the lead-up to the Queensland state election on October 26 this year.
This is the statement that emerged from the meeting:
Queensland’s Shadow Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Tony Perrett has opened the door to improved communication with the State’s legal, ethical hunters.
Mr Perrett, Member for Gympie and a beef producer, recognised the value of pig hunters in economic and environmental terms during a meeting with Queensland APDHA President Mark Beattie this week.
However, he said poachers hunting illegally on private and public land undermined the reputation and value of the State’s real hunters.
Mr Perrett made the comments at the meeting he sought with the APDHA to create a new positive line of communication with pig hunters.
Mark Beattie said the pair discussed the Biosecurity implications of illegal hunting and supported Mr Perrett’s suggestion a law change might be needed to make illegal hunting a losing proposition.
Mark Beattie said Mr Perrett said any proposed law change would involve a process of genuine consultation with groups including the APDHA.
(For the record, we will work with anyone who will work with us. Our focus is specifically about what is in it all for our members first and then all other hunters. As parties and individuals talk to us we will publish the details here.)
Pig bounty is a practical solution
The Land newspaper, Letters to the Editor
August 4, 2024
One reader has put forward an idea for a pig bounty. The Land file picture
Following on from your article in The Land on July 25, 2024, 'Pig Control Needed, Path Forward Not Clear', I wish to put my argument forward for a $20 bounty.
The Local Land Services is overwhelmed by feral pig numbers. As I see it, one very practical way forward is to introduce a pig bounty (snout to be cut off animal).
This would require legislative controls such as the hunter would be required to have a letter of permission from the landholder/owner with the relevant PIC number for that property. We already have firearms and trespass laws to help control law breakers.
To collect the bounty, LLS could nominate a day or days for deliveries to be made to suit the local office team.
Victoria has a very successful fox bounty system that has been expanded for another year due to its success. I can't see any reason why NSW couldn't do the same with feral pigs.
This is a positive way forward that deserves consideration in our war against feral pigs.
BEN NICHOLLS, Tottenham
Our efforts make news in the UK
Fieldsports News
July 25, 2024
The full text of the FB post:
3.8 million pigs shot in Australia in 2024
Hogsplosion
With feral hogs at uncontrollable levels in Australia, one state, New South Wales, is looking at paying hunters a A$20-a-head pig bounty.
In a radio interview with ABC Australia, Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association president Ned Makim sets out the reasons hunters deserve a bounty
Watch this week's news in full: https://youtu.be/fa4cnrgshGg
#fieldsports #Hogsplosion #feralHogs #NewSouthWales #PigBounty #AustraliaPigDoggingandHuntersAssociation #NedMakim
ABC Rural Report: NSW Farmers reject feral pig bounty idea
July 23, 2024
ABC Rural Report gives national voice to 10,000 Ears Project
Ambitious project calls for hunters to collect 10,000 feral pig ears to guide eradication research
By Lucy Cooper
Posted , updated
Feral pigs are one of the most invasive species in Australia.(Supplied: Ross Lyon)
- A bold plan by a national hunting group aims to collect 10,000 feral pigs' ears as part of a study of the animals.
- The director of the Biodiversity Council says feral pigs are one of the worst invasive species in Australia.
What's next?
- When the project concludes at the end of the year, the ears will be handed over to scientists to help eradication research.
A Queensland wildlife ecologist hopes an ambitious project to collect 10,000 feral pig ears will provide data to help manage the damaging pest.
University of Southern Queensland researcher Benjamin Allen is supporting a bold plan by the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association (APDHA) to collect the ears.
"Researchers are not in the habit of collecting 10,000, we just never have the resources to do that," Dr Allen said.
"It's always a very expensive cost … to go and get that data.
"If [APDHA] members are out there doing it, then this might be a match made in heaven.
"[Feral pigs] are … one of the handful of Australia's worst pest animals."
Researcher Dr Benjamin Allen says the "10,000 ears project" is a "really good idea". (ABC News: Chris Gillette)
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry estimates feral pigs cost farming more than $100 million each year.
APDHA, which represents hunters who use dogs and guns for feral pig control, is asking members to send in a piece of ear any time they kill a feral pig.
National president Ned Makim said it was an unprecedented collection effort that would be invaluable to future research.
"That number [10,000] is significant because we'd like it to be the biggest wildlife study in the world," he said.
"We're trying to capture some of the knowledge that we hold as hunters."
Feral pigs cost Australian farming more than $100 million per year.(Supplied: Ross Lyon)
James Trezise, director of the Biodiversity Council, said feral pigs affected almost all forms of Australian wildlife through digging, foraging, trampling, and predation.
"They're in the top three for impacts on our threatened wildlife," he said.
Mr Trezise said a coordinated approach to management was needed as feral animals did not respect state borders.
"Any kind of increased data can be helpful," he said.
"What we need to see with feral pigs is integrated strategic pest management and a lot more investment in their control and eradication."
A losing battle?
For North Queensland sugarcane grower Ross Lyon, feral pigs have always been an issue on his farm in Lannercost, 130km north-west of Townsville.
"We've been here since 1964 … we've been trying everything," he said.
Despite constant hunting and baiting, feral pig numbers were out of control.
Ross Lyon has always had pig problems since he moved to his cane farm.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
"They're just coming in droves and our average kill for the year is around 450 pigs and we're not even dinting it," he said.
Mr Lyon estimated that every year, pigs are ruining about 500 tonnes of cane, a crop worth $335,000 at current prices.
"It's scandalous, it just makes me sick," he said.
"Last year, they took out about a seven-acre [2.8-hectare] paddock and destroyed it."
Feral pigs decimate sugar cane crops, leaving them rotting and dead.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
Having seen what these animals are capable of, Mr Lyon was not confident the collection program would help him.
"The effort probably of more advantage [would be] to put more research into what pigs want to eat," he said.
"We've tried multitudes of things … but it just never worked."
Farmers use waste fruit, such as mangoes, to attract feral pigs to gain their trust before using traps.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
Barry Kelly has 20 years' experience developing and managing feral pig control programs.
He said despite the efforts of various groups, the problem was worsening.
"It's just getting out of hand, it's getting bigger and bigger," Mr Kelly said.
Feral pigs can have up to 30 piglets per year.(Supplied: Ross Lyon)
But he believed the "losing battle" could be turned around with a coordinated approach.
"It [management] needs to be on a national scale," he said.
"There's a lot of good pig projects going on around the country, achieving great results and reducing the numbers, but all the neighbouring areas are not doing anything."
How does it work?
Hunters across Australia have been asked to snip the tips off the ears of the pigs they kill, and to notify the association that they have a sample.
Mr Makim said his group would then send them in a collection bag for the dried ear tip to be posted back.
Actual population numbers of feral pigs in Australia are not known.(Supplied: Ross Lyon)
Once the details of where and when the ear was collected are recorded by the hunters, they will pass the sample on to scientists for any research they desire.
"If they're high-quality samples, then the world's your oyster, you can do all sorts of things," Dr Allen said.
"It [the genetic sample] doesn't have to be big, you don't need something the size of a corn chip, you only need something the size of a lentil.
"If we do have them, then it opens up the door to answering all sorts of questions."
The collection drive will run until the end of the year.
As an invasive species, feral pigs impact Australian wildlife through digging, foraging, trampling, and predation.(Supplied: Ross Lyon)
Along with samples that will help future science, Mr Makim hoped the project would challenge stereotypes about hunters.
"The further you get into a metropolitan area, the less contact people have with them," he said.
"They will go with a stereotype of a boofhead who's going around in the bush, wreaking havoc.
"We can't help with the way we look, a lot of us look like boofheads, [but] the reality is pig hunters are just normal people.
"We want to underline that pig hunters are already contributing to the economy and to the environment, and perhaps address some of those misconceptions that are out there."
Diseased, brazen pigs hone in on urban areas, crops
North Queensland Register
July 5, 2024 - 6:00pm
By Steph Allen
Townsville pig hunter Bianca Pollard previously contracted Leptospirosis and says feral pigs rapidly spread disease from property to property across the north. Picture by Bianca Pollard
NEARLY one million feral pigs have been hunted across Queensland over the first half of the Great Australian Pig Hunt.
Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association Queensland president Mark Beattie said the successful start of the inaugural 12-month event had been well received amongst the hunting community, eliminating 986,856 threats to native fauna and flora.
As feral pig numbers continue to boom following years of increased breeding from suitable weather, the pests are becoming more widespread and targeting more urban areas and crops.
"They seem to be coming into areas that are more built up. I'm getting feral pigs out of an area now [near the Sunshine Coast] that's got developers building roads," he said.
"They've developed a sweet tooth. They're smashing strawberry crops ... bananas, pineapples, macadamia nuts, mangoes [and] cane."
Mr Beattie said hunters are cracking down on peri-urban management across some of the most densely populated areas around the north coast and the south west.
ADPHA Qld president Mark Beattie says pigs have become more brazen, encroaching on more urban areas. Picture by Mark Beattie
The pigs are moving through cane areas north of Bundaberg and targeting wheat and barley south of Springsure.
"Due to the rainfall we've had [in those areas] ... the pigs are everywhere because the weather and the crops have been so good," he said.
"A lot of times you can't use firearms for obvious reasons because of houses. Poison ... if you can find specific-specific [poison] and I usually use dogs and traps.
"The damage they do is astronomical. One method [of elimination] doesn't work. There are so many different ways to try and stop them ... aerial shooting, trapping, hunting, baiting, everything."
Defense force Australia paramedic Bianca Pollard manages a property in Townsville and helps eliminate pigs that hide in two national parks within 50-100km.
The pigs have learnt to hide amongst the Brahman in neighbouring properties to avoid capture, and in hilly areas of national parks, out of sight of rangers.
Ms Pollard said increased numbers of pigs not only cause producers to have to vaccinate cattle more to prevent disease through exposure to mange, abscess-riddled and sickly pigs, but also impact on the local wildlife through wallowing.
The pigs wallow in billabongs and other water ways and stir up sediment, in turn impacting on the animals that drink from the water and causing detrimental effects to their reproduction.
Bianca Pollard takes blood and swab samples for disease management testing. Picture by Bianca Pollard
"Bird and lizard eggs [can't calcify] ... because the bacteria weakens the shell and it breaks down [and the young] dies," she said.
"When it happens over two nesting periods, the birds stop laying because they know something's wrong and they'll move out of the area."
Since managing pigs in her local area, she has seen a family of brolgas return, as well as bandicoots which are now "flourishing" and Black Palm cockatoos.
Ms Pollard said her background in trauma medicine inspired her passion for sustainable disease management, which has driven her to desire to help manage the pests.
"They cause a huge impact to the environment that we either farm or use for the production of food, whether it's cattle, sheep or crops to feed Australia," she said.
"Or if they're in a national park and there's an endangered bird in that area, feral animals are unbalancing that food chain and upsetting the natural balance."
She spends a lot of time trying to educate both sides of the "greenie" debate after growing up hunting "destructive" wild goats in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, trapping rabbits, buffalo and deer, and moving to feral pigs when she moved to North Queensland.
Feral pigs are seeing a boost in numbers after years of positive breeding weather and seclusion in national parks. Picture by ACM
"Every bit helps. I'm just trying to do my bit," she said.
"I grew up in an Indigenous community and the Elders taught me everything about sustainability and the environment and making it work ... for the future."
Ms Pollard uses dogs and knives, giving pigs a quick death through sticking them after they are bailed up by her dogs.
"It's a quick kill, very humane ... [not like in the killing of] cattle for meat sold in Woolworths. Bullets are too expensive ... they use electrocution," she said.
"Every pig hunter does it the same way [straight through the ribs and into the heart and lungs] ... which is good because it shows the education has gone all the way down the chain."
Darwin national parks allow the removal of pigs by licensed hunters, which Ms Pollard said "works a treat".
"You might find one pig wandering from another property, that's how efficient it is," she said.
"Then you come into Queensland and you can't go into the national parks ... so they're hiding in them because they have water supplies, food and they're trashing them ... and then they get into cane properties."
Over the first six months of 2024, around 986,856 pigs are estimated to have been killed by Queensland recreational hunters.
Around 3,289,030 have been killed nationwide.
The sows recorded in the competition so far have blocked a further 79,363 sows from being born in the next 12 months.
Mr Beattie said the removal of feral pigs not only prevents damage or destruction to native flora and fauna but also removes the spread of disease.
"African Swine Fever for instance is a huge worry for Australia's economy. If it gets into piggeries, there's roughly $5 million wiped off the map," he said.
ADPHA also created the 10,000 Ear Project challenge, where hunters clip off and send away pig ears to help determine what disease is in certain areas, breeding patterns and numbers to help hunters zone in on areas to target.
Hunters as citizen scientists under scrutiny
Click below to listen...
June 15, 2024
NSW Parliament hears of pig hunter successes
See link below...
June 6, 2024
'Biggest wildlife study in Australia' gains traction among pig hunters
The North Queensland Register
Updated March 6 2024 - 9:56am, first published 7:00am
By Steph Allen
Inverell pig hunter Ned Makim says hunters have an untapped wealth of knowledge that could help researchers in the management of the feral pig problem. Picture: Ned Makim
FOR pig hunters across the country, the environmental, economic and social implications of the wild pests are common knowledge.
Wild pigs are notorious for damaging pastures, land and crops from sowing to harvest, degrading waterholes and wetlands, preying on native species, and spreading disease, parasites and invasive plants.
In 2021, the Queensland government estimated that the state had up to 2.3m feral pigs, and stated that they were "among Queensland's most widespread and damaging pest animals".
Now a new initiative is helping to not only tackle the growing pig problem, but also bring a scientific look into the way the pigs live, breed, and populate.
National president of the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association Ned Makim was behind the 10,000 Ears Project which launched on March 1.
"The APDHA (constituted in Queensland 20 years ago) exists to represent what we call legal, ethical hunters and one of the tasks that we have is within a changing world and a more urbanised Australia, to explain the relevance of pig hunting," he said.
The APDHA is celebrating 20 years in 2024. Picture: APDHA
"This year, leading up to APDHA's 20th anniversary, we thought 'we're on every committee, every pest management group, we liaise with government and with cops about illegal hunting'.
"I spoke at the Feral Pig Conference in Cairns last year on the position of hunters as citizen scientists. I said 'it's a great resource that no-one's using. There is more to us than killing a lot of pigs...we can gather data, you can pick our brains...collectively we have hundreds and hundreds of years of pig behaviour and biology sitting in hunters' minds'."
Spurred on by a positive reception from the academic community, Mr Makim began the Great Australian Pig Hunt on January 1, encouraging hunters to log their monthly kills to infer a national figure.
"On two months, the inference is that recreational hunters have killed 1.74m pigs throughout Australia...the average rate was 19.8 (pigs per hunter) in January, and 19.56 in February," he said.
The statistics were coming in thick and fast, and buoyed by the strong participation rate, Mr Makim quickly saw room for more growth within the academic world for further studies.
"We spoke to Associate Professor Ben Allen at the University of Southern Queensland. He's a wildlife researcher...he said 'can you get 1000 ear tips?' I said 'I can get 10,000'...and he said 'if you can do that, it could be the biggest wildlife study in Australia'," Mr Makim said.
Up to 30 hunters are currently taking part in the 10,000 Ears Project across the country. Picture: APDHA
Thus, the 10,000 Ear Project began, kicking off with significant uptake by the pig hunting community.
"They cut off the tip of the ear...put it in a brown paper bag to dry out. Once they're dry, they're no longer a bio-security issue in terms of transport or being hazardous," Mr Makim said.
The hunters must snip off a tip of the ear, place it in a brown paper bag, and write on the bag the date the pig was killed, its sex, whether it was breeding age, and the nearest town.
There are up to 30 hunters collecting ear samples from each pig they catch.
The samples are delivered to a central location for longer-term storage, awaiting a partnership between APDHA and an organisation with "the requisite expertise or finance, or both, to have the samples analysed".
A report collated by Mr Makim stated that the participation rate of 56 hunters consistently collecting 18 pig ear samples a month for 10 months could achieve 10,000 samples.
DNA can reveal information on breeding and breeding habits, disease susceptibility and history, and movement paths through breeding history.
The DNA samples could provide a "bank of information which can be accessed for research", assist in obtaining grants to "administer the program longer term and facilitate a major analytical exercise" to potentially rank as one of country's largest pest animal studies, elevate pig hunters from "incidental suppliers of data to active field staff of a major research project", and establish the APDHA as a "genuine research driver in the feral pig space".
Through communications with Mr Allen, Mr Makim discovered that the ear tips can reveal information about pig breeding, why one boar becomes dominant, information for the potential of a disease outbreak, as well as the "biggest and best thing" - the revelation of the shape of a breeding cohort of pigs.
"Pigs don't just live in a spot and graduate out in a circle...they follow land forms....they follow gullies, ridges and water courses. The best control methods would be following the area where all those pigs are related," he said.
"It would be significant if you have African swine fever...which could pop up in a place like Charters Towers, for example. The initial instinct for controllers...is to throw a circle around Charters Towers...to manage and contain the disease. But that has never worked when dealing with a wild population.
"They won't adhere to circular movement, they'll go where the breeding pattern goes...if they're all related in some way in varying degrees, they'll go further along the Burdekin. Then that's the shape the control method should take.
There has been a massive increase in feral pig numbers this year due to the wet weather. Picture: APDHA
"That's one of the things that could pop up (from this study). It could make things more effective. Pigs tend to live up in the hills and come down to feed...hunters know what, but if we can show that through DNA, it will codify the knowledge already held by pig hunters and provide information...for disease outbreak."
Hunters from across the country have come on board to help with the project, ranging from Weipa to the Gulf and up into the Northern Territory.
After widespread heavy rainfall across the state this year, Mr Makim said he had seen a "massive increase" in pig numbers.
"As there is every time there's a season like this," he said.
"They can breed three times a year. My experience in temperate Australia is that the main breeding times are...when sows coming into season in the first week of May. You can see it...or notice that the really big boars that you never see...they appear in the middle of the day.
Researchers have requested that hunters snip off a 20c piece-sized tip of the pig's ear as part of the project. Picture: APDHA
"The second season is the first week of September...and in a really good season, the first of January. A sow may have 10 babies and rear eight, and half of those are going to be sows. In a good season, the governing factor is weight not age, so if they're 30kg, they'll come into season quickly...in as little as three months...and she'll breed again...plus her first lot of females are all having babies...that causes an exponential rise because they breed like rabbits.
"It's an absolute time bomb. Yay for hunters, because they're putting the pressure on them but you're never going to get rid of pigs in Australia."
Mr Makim said there are currently studies that are looking at breeding out mosquitoes by engineering their DNA to only produce males.
"If you want to do the same with pigs, it would take 200 years to breed only male pigs in Australia. But in 200 years, nature has a way of finding a way," he said.
"We have to find things that will work now. At risk is the export meat industry, food production, and the immediate threats to that."
NSW Police does not support a ban on pig-dogging, despite reports
Sporting Shooter Magazine
February 24, 2024
by Royce Wilson
New South Wales hunters can breathe a sigh of relief — NSW Police are not calling for a ban on pig hunting with dogs, contrary to reports that they were seeking one.
A document tabled in NSW Parliament during Estimates earlier this week by an Animal Justice Party MP, in which two NSW Police Service members called for pig-dogging to be outlawed, caused alarm among hunters.
However, fears that the NSW Police Service is seeking the ban have proven to be misplaced after the force appeared to distance itself from the letter, which was written in 2022 by two members of a rural crime unit.
The service went as far as posting a statement on the the Rural Crime Prevention Team Facebook page saying, “It has been reported that the New South Wales Police Force are calling for the banning of using dogs to hunt pigs in New South Wales. This is not the view of the NSWPF or the Rural Crime Prevention Team.”
Pro-hunting Barwon MP Roy Butler says he has asked NSW Police about the issue and been reassured the document was the perspective of individual officers and did not represent the views of the NSW Police Service.
“The NSW police have no intention or plan to stop hunting with dogs,” he said. “It’s not even within their jurisdiction.
“This was never the police’s position and it would be irresponsible to present it as police position.
“This should never have been tabled or presented as police position because it’s clearly not.”
Mr Butler said many of his constituents were keen pig-doggers so he felt it imperative to get to the bottom of the matter.
He said while NSW Police did not wish to ban pig hunting, they believe there should be an industry code of practice for pig-dogging, and this had his support too.
“Most people who go pig-dogging already do it the right way,” he said.
“We don’t want people doing the wrong thing hunting or with guns — it gives us all a bad name.
“When we’re trying to present ourselves as law-abiding people it only takes one person acting up for the media to have something to run with.”
Australian Pig Doggers and Hunting Association (APDHA) president Ned Makim said they were very supportive of the there being regulations involved with pig-dogging, ideally as an extension of the current NSW R-licence system for hunting, with the aim of ensuring only people doing the right thing were involved in the activity.
“We are very happy with the concept of regulation,” he said. “All that we ask is that we’re involved in the framing of that regulation.
“In the same way that fishing is licensed, pig-dogging would be licensed. It’s the easiest way to delineate between legal and illegal hunting.
“We see it as an extension of the R-licence system in NSW. You have to be member of a recognised hunting organisation, and it would be extended to pig hunting on private land, not just public.”
Mr Makim said animal welfare was a top priority for pig-doggers, who formed close bonds with their animals and took their wellbeing very seriously, as well as having great respect for their quarry.
“The bond you can get with your dogs is incredible and the joy they get out of [pig hunting] is amazing,” he said.
“I’ve been hunting with dogs since I was 15 and of all the people I know, no-one cares more about their dogs or the dog’s welfare than pig hunters.
“It might seem counter-intuitive but they [hunters] also have tremendous respect for the pigs – they don’t hate them, they see them as something to be hunted.
“A quick, humane death [for a hunted pig] is as much a welfare issue for the pig as it is for the dog.”
Rural police call for use of dogs to hunt pigs be outlawed in NSW
ABC Central West, NSW
February 23 2024 - 9:31am (Updated
By Hugh Hogan
A NSW police unit says it is time to ban hunting dogs such as those used to cull feral pigs.(Supplied: Nic Perkins/Invasive Animals CRC)
Readers are advised this article includes an image some may find distressing.
A letter tabled to budget estimates this week asked the state government to consider changing the legislation to specifically prohibit "the use of hunting dogs to hunt animals … in particular feral pigs".
The communication was written by members of the Oxley Rural Crime Unit, but in a statement NSW Police said the views expressed in the letter were not shared by NSW Police or the Rural Crime Prevention Team.
The letter states some hunting dogs are exposed to significant injuries, "rarely" receive professional veterinary treatment and that the practice has "little to no impact of feral pig numbers as compared to aerial culls".
The letter goes on to state that hunting dogs can also scatter pig populations into neighbouring properties and that the pests pose risks to biosecurity and human health.
The correspondence states police allocate "significant" resources and funding to prevent illegal trespassing from a "minority" of pig hunters that have been causing "anxiety, fear, anguish and anger" to rural landholders for decades.
The officers acknowledge in the letter that the '"divisive" activity is enjoyed by many law-abiding hunters, but the adverse impacts warrant a "fresh approach to the issue".
"Police request that consideration be given to legislative change, prohibiting the use of hunting dogs to hunt animals and in particular feral pigs," the letter said.
"It is requested that consideration be given to mandate those hunting activities as criminal offences, in a similar way bull fighting and other animal fighting activities are prohibited."
Hunters call for regulation
The Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association said the letter was "confusing".
National president Ned Makim said the association was also fed up with illegal hunters, but the solution was not an outright ban.
"What we've suggested is regulation of pig hunting with dogs with a licensing system," he said.
"At the moment the police have difficulty identifying who's legal and who's illegal."
Mr Makim rejected several claims in the letter, including that dogs disperse pigs into neighbouring properties and that the practice has little to no effect on wild pig numbers.
"There's no evidence of that anywhere — that's just a furphy," he said.
Mr Makim said the letter appeared to be a knee-jerk reaction to the police who were "not getting the job done".
"I'm not blaming them — it's a hard job," he said.
"You've got cops trying to cover areas the size of a country."
The association said legal pig hunters were a massive economic driver in the regions and that an effective pest control method that should not be prohibited because of the "abhorrent" practice of illegal hunters trespassing on properties.
'Legally dubious'
The letter was tabled in budget estimates on Wednesday by the Animal Justice Party's Emma Hurst.
She said the practice of pig hunting was already "legally dubious" and called for legislation to outlaw the dogs.
"It's already illegal to unnecessarily cause pain and suffering to an animal under the act, but this has never really been trialled in a court case in regards to pig-dogging," she said.
The NSW government has already committed to reviewing the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 and updating the legislation to include bans on puppy farms and creating an independent office of animal welfare.
Ms Hurst said the review should include specific clauses to make hunting pigs with dogs illegal, which she said was cruel to both animals.
"It is absolutely horrific these animals, these pigs, are absolutely screaming for their lives," she said.
"It is such an extremely inhumane action — it can't be justified in any sense of the word."
Editor's note 23/2/2024: The story has been amended to clarify that members of the Oxley Rural Crime team wrote the letter that was tabled in parliament.
Are Australian pig hunters the nation's most effective environmentalists?
Australian pig hunters could be removing an estimated one million pigs a month, according to data collected by the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association. Picture supplied APDHA
The Land Newspaper, NSW
February 23 2024 - 5:00am
Queensland Country Life Newspaper, QLD
February 24 2024 - 4:00pm
Australian pig hunters could be removing an estimated one million pigs a month from the nation's prime agricultural and environmental resources, according to indications of data collected from the first month of the Great Australian Pig Hunt.
The Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association launched the Great Australian Pig Hunt on January 1, and its national president, Inverell's Ned Makim, believes this trend could upend the pig management model in Australia.
He says the contribution made by pig hunting has never been effectively measured when managing this pressing environmental issue.
He added that the association is planning at least two more research projects this year to focus increased attention on a decades-old problem.
The Great Australian Pig Hunt's launch as an information-gathering project will provide more concrete figures on how many pigs are removed from the environment by hunters and the value the hunters generate as voluntary environmentalists.
"Our participants report 4655 pigs killed in January," Mr Makim said. "That represents an activity rate of 45.8 per cent of hunters removing an average of 19.8 pigs monthly."
He said about 20 pigs a month 'felt right' based on his 46 years of field experience.
"But what is surprising is what that represents when viewed through the prism of previous research."
The association's own Keeping Count study of pig hunter numbers indicated the lower level of pig hunter numbers Australia-wide is 121,102. If that participation mirrors those numbers from the hunt participants (45.8 pc), it suggests that there is an active rate of 55,465 hunters chasing porkers each month. That many hunters are removing 19.8 pigs each month amounts to 1,098,207 pigs.
"That's a lot of pigs," Mr Makim said. "It will be a very challenging figure for the pig management bureaucracy operating within a paradigm that ignores hunting as a means of pig control, and that's what the data says at this point.
"NSW DPI data based on a 2023 report on the contribution of hunting to the economy found that pig hunters spent an average of $1035.12 a month on their lifestyle.
"So 55,465 active hunters could have injected $57,412,930.80 in January in their pursuit of pigs. Surely that's worth something in the feral pig debate?" Mr Makim said.
Mr Makim conceded it was too early in the data collection exercise to draw too many solid conclusions, but there were indications that hunters appeared to be making a significant contribution to feral pig control with a net economic gain for the Australian taxpayer.
The Great Australian Pig Hunt will continue to collect data until December 31, 2024, with monthly updates on the participation rate of removing pigs and the economic activity generated.
The APDHA is also working with two other significant data collection projects to assist in building the mass of information about feral pigs, their genealogy and activity in the landscape.
One project will gather 10,000 tissue samples from hunted pigs, and a second, more intensive project will seek to answer a significant list of questions about each pig killed.
The ABC takes a look at our feral pig research plans
Click below to listen...
