Bounties back in vogue to cull feral goats, cats, pigs
Bounty hunters may be unleashed on feral cats and goats for the first time in years as a state government looks to "novel" ways to deal with pests.
NSW Premier Chris Minns on Tuesday threw his weight behind bounties, saying the state has to do better to control feral pest populations.
It comes after Victoria's fox bounties wiped out more than 80,000 of the species in 2022 after hunters were rewarded between $10 to $14 per scalp.
"It's about time we start thinking about novel ways of reducing the feral goat, the feral pig, the feral cat population, which has really taken over a lot of parks," Mr Minns told Triple M Coffs Coast radio.
"We should be open to bounties and other things, because we've got a lot of recreational shooters out there that are actually getting rid of a lot of the pests roaming across our native vegetation.
"We can be doing far better on it."
Nearly $1 billion is also being spent on prevention and protection against biosecurity threats in NSW.
Invasive species are the highest impact contributors of extinctions, directly endangering 70 per cent of threatened wildlife and ecosystems in the state.
Cats alone have played a major role in 25 mammal extinctions, including the lesser bilby, the Invasive Species Council says.
The premier highlighted the success of brumby culls in the Kosciuszko National Park, bringing the population down up to 80 per cent.
NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party leader Robert Borsak in January pressed for a $2 million bounty scheme, even backing novel approaches like Florida's famed Python Challenge.
The annual 10-day competition - which even spawned a TV comedy, Killing It - draws hundreds of people to the Florida Everglades to exterminate invasive Burmese pythons.
Mr Borsak's proposal involves a bounty of $10 or $20 per head being set on feral animals.
The CSIRO's most recent best practice advice on pest management however says bounties rarely work.
Animal welfare groups oppose the practice while the Invasive Species Council compares it to "jailing the occasional dealer" in a drug epidemic.
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