EFFORTS to preserve Victoria's pure-bred dingo population will not undermine wild dog control, says GAVIN JENNINGS
It may sound strange, but the Victorian Government's increased effort to control wild dogs is also helping to protect the small number of dingoes that remain in the wild.
That's because the greatest threat to dingoes is interbreeding with introduced dog species.
So when Victoria's independent Scientific Advisory Committee recently advised the Government that the dingo was on the brink of extinction in Victoria, we knew that any efforts to protect the dingo also had to protect our wild dog program.
Late last month, I approved the listing of the pure dingo as a threatened species.
The next step is to determine what we will do to preserve Australia's only native dog.
An action plan will be developed over the coming months, with strong input from our wild dog committees and the Victorian Farmers Federation.
But, in announcing the listing, I have already outlined a range of measures to ensure our wild dog programs are not affected.
Farmers and other landholders will still be able to control problem dingoes when they threaten livestock on a property.
Most wild dog control is currently undertaken within a 3km buffer zone on public land that adjoins private land.
This approach provides the best protection from wild dogs to landholders and their livestock, while still allowing for the conservation of pure dingo populations which scientists believe inhabit more remote areas.
The Victorian Government is committed to controlling wild dogs.
We have a comprehensive approach to wild dog management, which includes baiting, shooting, fencing and trapping.
The Government has committed extra funding and staff, including $3.4 million in new initiatives over five years to protect Victoria's livestock.
There are now 26 staff working on wild dog control, compared with only 13 staff when this Government came to office.
As an indigenous top-order predator, the dingo has historically been a maligned animal.
History shows us that we have often misunderstood the important role of animals at the top of the food chain.
In fact, there is evidence dingoes help protect livestock by keeping fox numbers down.
They may also play a role in controlling rabbits, thus preventing land degradation.
To borrow an example from interstate, we have to act now before the dingo goes the way of the thylacine, more commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger.
Graziers in Tasmania saw the thylacine as a threat and a bounty was offered during the 19th century.
Historians tell us the thylacine fed mostly on wallabies and took fewer sheep than most people imagined.
With the thylacine gone and the Tasmanian devil now threatened by facial tumour disease, the island state faces the possibility of losing all of its native top-order predators.
Some scientists are worried that as the result of a decline in devil numbers, feral cats will dramatically increase. There is also a possibility that foxes will establish across the Tasmanian countryside. If this occurs, foxes may become a serious predator to lambs.
These examples from across Bass Strait remind us that ecosystems are complex interactions of thousands of species.
I look forward to working with the farming sector and broader regional communities to ensure the Government continues to employ a sensible, commonsense approach to dingo protection.
Together we can help ensure the continuation of wild dog control programs and conservation of the pure dingo.
- Gavin Jennings is the Victorian Environment Minister.
