Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018C00160:reg:2008:p10
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018C00160
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2008 (pt 10/19)
Character Range: 29692–33568

the impact of unmanaged goats relative to other sources of impact, including reliable methods for monitoring their numbers and their effects at different densities on key native species.

3.2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                High priority, medium to long term
Investigate interactions between unmanaged goats, other livestock species, rabbits, macropods and wild dogs to determine optimal approaches to integrated management of these species in the rangelands.

3.3                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                High priority, medium term
Identify any unintended effects that controlling unmanaged goats may have if conducted in isolation from other management activities.

3.4                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                High priority, medium term
Investigate the relationship between unmanaged goat density and damage and benefits in different ecosystems.

   Objective 4

Improve the effectiveness, target specificity, integration and humaneness of control options for unmanaged goats

Key actions for Objective 4 include improving control methods, strategic use of exclusion fencing, increasing use of control methods by land managers, increasing adoption of standard control methods, promoting commercial use approaches that complement conservation objectives, and investigating the eradication of isolated populations through the use of integrated control methods. Actions 4.1–4.7 focus on improving options to control unmanaged goats through better use of existing techniques and development of new techniques, including those for monitoring success of control in the field. These actions are of medium to high priority; some are already partially achieved, and most could be achieved within the next three to five years.

Total grazing management systems incorporating self-mustering traps have, in some regions, played a useful role in controlling goat numbers. Trapping groups of goats around watering points can be an effective and efficient control technique (Harrington 1982), but in areas of high rainfall, trapping is effective only in dry times when goats are obliged to find water and there is no access to alternative water sources. Action 4.1 includes research into the potential of bore capping and new technologies, such as 'machine vision' species recognition, to improve the effectiveness of waterpoint trapping.

Action 4.2 is to research the potential drawbacks of toxins used to poison unmanaged goats; for example, their potential to affect non-target species.

Action 4.3 is to test and disseminate information on exclusion fencing, such as that contained in a recent review (Long and Robley 2004). The review authors were unable to locate any exclusion fences (except for small experimental exclosures) designed to exclude unmanaged goats from conservation areas. Goats will eventually breach most fences; therefore, fencing is often regarded as a tactical weapon to facilitate control of unmanaged goats rather than a tool for achieving complete exclusion (Parkes et al. 1996).

To improve the effectiveness of control programs, Action 4.4 is to develop training programs to help land managers adopt and evaluate control methods appropriate for local conditions and determine in what circumstances