Pests which destroy farmers' crops and pasture as well as wreak havoc on native vegetation will now have nowhere to hide with the NSW Government releasing new mapping to better track feral deer and pigs.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall said that deer have moved into new areas in NSW, highlighting the need for targeted and sustained pest control.
"Feral deer and pigs are menaces that cause headaches for our farmers, meaning we need new tools to support traditional pest controls methods used by primary producers and hunters to keep them in check," Mr Marshall said.
"Feral deer populations have continued to expand and they now occupy an area covering 22 per cent of the state, up from five per cent in 2016. To get ahead of the problem we need to know exactly where they are and where they are likely to go next. "This mapping tool will give public and private land managers insights they have never had before so that they can better track and document pest animal populations and movements in their area."
Mr Marshall said the mapping project, through the DPI, is part of a long-term plan to track pest animal population trends in NSW, including deer and pigs.
"The total area of high-density feral pig populations has been reduced by 24 per cent in 2020, compared with 2016," he said. "This year we added feral pigs to our mapping exercise to better inform strategies focused on addressing the risk of African swine fever entering the country."