Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00002:front:0:p69
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00002
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 199135–202033

materials into the park).

     5.3.8              Work with government agencies to stay informed about potential new biosecurity risks and develop and implement a biosecurity strategy that identifies and considers potential risks and proposes measures to prevent and/or manage them.

Feral animals

Outcome

    * The impact of feral animals on park values is minimised

Performance indicator

    * Distribution and abundance of priority feral animal species

Background

   'Pigs make a mess digging up the ground. Donkeys might damage country some places. Buffalo can mess up country too but not many here now. Before, there was plenty.'

Steven Nabinardi Madjandi, Mirarr/Gundjeihmi clan

Feral animals can have a significant impact on the park's cultural and natural values. They impact on native plants and animals and available food resources, and cause erosion, saltwater intrusion and the spread of weeds and disease. Asian water buffalo, cattle, pigs, horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, black rats, European bees, cane toads and introduced ants are present in Kakadu. There are also risks that new species, such as crazy ants, will invade.

Buffalo, cattle, pigs, horses and donkeys present public safety issues. Large animals like buffalo and horses are particularly dangerous along roadways. Buffalo and pigs can also be aggressive to humans.

The cat, pig and cane toad, are identified nationally as key threatening processes impacting on threatened species and ecological communities as listed under the EPBC Act. Threat abatement plans have been developed to reduce the impact of these species (DEH 2005, DEWHA 2008, DSEWPaC 2011).

Bininj place a range of values on some introduced animals which are influenced by the history of association between Bininj and each species over time. They value particular species, such as buffalo, cattle and pigs, as a source of food, and believe in the idea of rights to exist on country. For example, horses were around long before the declaration of the park and some Bininj believe they have a right to continue to live here.

Since completion of the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign (BTEC) in 1997, a small herd of buffalo has been kept in a fenced area in the park of approximately 12,000 hectares (known as the Buffalo Farm), to supply meat to Bininj/Mungguy residing in the park to compensate for the significant reduction in numbers during the BTEC programme.

A park-wide feral animal control exercise was conducted in 2008–09. Since then most feral animal control programmes have focused on strategic areas of high risk rather than taking a park-wide approach, due to limited budgets. Aerial survey techniques have also been reviewed and refined. The park is participating in a feral cat research project as part of the National Environmental Research Programme. Two fenced exclosures have been built to exclude feral cats