Best practice fox management in Australia

Abstract

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) impact on populations of many prey species in Australia, and so are the targets of widespread management programs. In this study we monitored fox management programs already operating across 4.5 million hectares of regional New South Wales (NSW) to compare the impact of varying fox baiting effort on the survival of lambs as a major prey species. The spatial coverage and frequency of fox baiting were both correlated with lamb survival. Lamb survival was higher in areas where fox baiting was done twice a year, in autumn and late winter/spring. Properties that had near neighbours participating in group fox baiting programs had higher survival of lambs than properties that did not. These results support the development of landscape-scale fox management programs, incorporating a high level of group participation to reduce the impact on vulnerable species.

Keywords

• Australia
• fox management
• group control
• predation
• seasonal timing
• Vulpes vulpes
• 1080 baiting