Mareeba, Queensland – Over 400 feral pigs have been removed from Brooklyn Wildlife Sanctuary in Far North Queensland after two years of successful aerial shooting.
Delivered by Gulf Savannah NRM (GSNRM) in partnership with Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), the program reinforces growing evidence that aerial shooting can be significantly more effective than traditional on ground methods and should play a central role in feral pig management across Australia.
GSNRM Biodiversity Officer Dr Edward Evans said aerial control offers major benefits in both efficiency and scope.
“Aerial pig control is often advantageous over ground-based control as you can cover a much larger area and access remote places you are unable to reach on the ground,” Dr Evans said.
“While the costs of running a helicopter are relatively high, the time investment saved compared to say baiting and trapping is huge and often outweighs the financial costs.”
Findings from AWC’s most recent Aerial Pig Control Activities Report verifies these claims, as it highlights the following:
- The operation resulted in a record number of pigs removed, significantly exceeding previous annual efforts, which typically required around 120 labour hours over three weeks to remove approximately 50 pigs.
- With aerial shooting, accessibility issues are minimised, meaning that pig control can be carried effectively for 100% of the year.
- Large lagoons within Brooklyn Wildlife Sanctuary, previously heavily impacted by feral pigs, have shown significant recovery, with improved water clarity and increased native waterlily coverage following the control program.
Key for conservation
Effective feral pig management is crucial for large-scale ecosystem conservation, particularly in priority areas where pigs are causing significant damage to habitats and waterways.
Feral pigs are recognised as a threatening process for more than 100 native species. In our region alone, at least six species are believed to be in decline due to pig impacts, including the endangered northern quoll and northern bettong.
“Feral pigs directly predate upon a huge number of native fauna and flora, but in the process of foraging they also can cause devastating environmental damage, particularly in sensitive areas like wetlands or riparian zones,” Dr Evans said.
“We don’t have any native hoofed animals, or ones that turn over soils quite like pigs, so Australian systems aren’t adapted to deal with this kind of disturbance and can take a long time to recover.”
Gulf Savannah NRM’s investment in the program is part of federally funded biodiversity projects aimed at improving critical habitats locally.
Priority sites include Brooklyn Wildlife Sanctuary, Mareeba Tropical Savanna and Wetland Reserve, Kondaparinga Station, and surrounding wet sclerophyll forests in Mount Lewis and Mount Spurgeon National Parks.
Programs like this demonstrate the potential for aerial control to deliver scalable, landscape-level solutions to one of Australia’s most persistent environmental challenges.
This project is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and the Saving Native Species program delivered by Gulf Savannah NRM, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.