Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 Western Australia, Series 4
Volume 4
Number 9 September, 1963 Article 13
1-1-1963
Wallaby control in the Kimberleys Wallaby control in the Kimberleys
C D. Gooding
Follow this and additional works at: https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4
Part of the Behavior and Ethology Commons, Other Animal Sciences Commons, and the Toxicology Commons
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Gooding, C D. (1963) "Wallaby control in the Kimberleys," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 4: No. 9, Article 13.
Available at: https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4/vol4/iss9/13
This article is brought to you for free and open access by the Agriculture at Digital Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 by an authorized administrator of Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected].
I
A bait making machine on the right with baits spread out to dry before being bagged for distribution for Wallaby poisoning
Wallaby Control in the Kimberleys
By C. D. GOODING, B.Sc. (Agric.)
E
XPERIMENTS aimed at controlling sandy wallabies along the Fitzroy River frontage were started in 1952 by officers of the Agriculture Protection Board.This work was undertaken in response to requests for assistance from some of the station owners and managers between Derby and Fitzroy Crossing.
The original work was published in the Journal of Agriculture September-October, 1954. Since then, some changes in tech- nique, mainly instigated by the pastoralists themselves, have been made. To bring the picture up to date this material has been correlated with the original published work in this article.
THE WALLABY
The Sandy Wallaby (Afacropus agilis) or Kimberley Wallaby as it is sometimes called, exists in varying numbers from Broome northwards through the Kimberley
region and the tropical portions of the Northern Territory into Queensland. It is a relatively small member of the kangaroo family never more than three to four feet high or 40 pounds weight. (Average weight is about 25 pounds.)
Most of the sandy wallabies in W.A. are found along the river frontages of the Fitzroy, Lennard and Ord Rivers where they sometimes reach plague proportions.
They are also a pest in the drier country back from the rivers—the area called the
"Pindan" where they have increased rapidly following the provision of artificial water points (dams and water troughs).
611
AGRICULTURE PROTECTION BOARD POISONING
Following extensive r e s e a r c h work by officers of t h e A.P.B. it was recommended in 1954 t h a t pastoralists m a k e b r a n a n d pollard baits c o n t a i n i n g strychnine for poisoning t h e pest.
Briefly, t h e procedure w a s : —
(1) Use a m i x t u r e of 1 p a r t pollard t o 2 p a r t s bran—if m a c h i n e m a k - ing, or if m a k i n g by h a n d t h e ratio should be reversed—2 pollard : 1 bran—plus enough water to make a dry friable m i x t u r e .
(2) R u n a t r i a l b a t c h of baits t h r o u g h t h e m a c h i n e to find out how m a n y baits c a n be m a d e from a s t a n d a r d volume of m a t e r i a l .
(3) Use 1 oz. of powdered alkaloid ( p u r e ) s t r y c h n i n e for every 800 baits, t h e n each bait contains £ grain. T h i s is enough to kill even t h e largest Sandy Wallaby.
(4) F r e e feed should be laid three times before baiting. T h e free feeds should not be closer t h a n 2 t o 3 days a p a r t , always waiting for t h e previous feed to be eaten before m o r e is laid.
Various o t h e r ideas were tested, includ- ing t h e use of furrows a s a m e a n s of a t t r a c t i n g wallabies a n d enclosure baiting for t h e protection of stock on t h e frontage.
These i t e m s were not recommended for p r a c t i c a l reasons. For example, kills of equal m a g n i t u d e could be obtained without a furrow. Also, a s most baiting on t h e f r o n t a g e country w a s done after t h e stock h a d been shifted, t h e r e seemed n o point in complicating t h e issue by erecting yards.
LATER DEVELOPMENTS
Since t h e original work was published some pastoralists h a v e used t h e method extensively to t r e a t b o t h t h e i r frontage a n d P i n d a n country. One of t h e most active s t a t i o n s h a s been Mount Anderson.
W i t h t h e development of t h e Camballan rice project on Liveringa Station a n d t h e ready availability of rice pollard, this m a t e r i a l was tried for wallaby poisoning.
T h e r e is no flour milling i n d u s t r y in W.A.
n o r t h of G e r a l d t o n ; w h e a t e n b r a n a n d
pollard is n o t only a n expensive item in.
t h e Kimberley region, but is also difficult t o get. With rice pollard readily available, baiting became c h e a p e r a n d more widely practised.
However, t h e s a m e basic rules for poison- ing apply—that is t h e need t o free feed before poisoning a n d t h e q u a n t i t y of poison per bait. I t should be pointed o u t t h a t rice pollard seems to be more a t t r a c - tive t h a n w h e a t e n b r a n a n d pollard bait.
SEASONAL PROGRAMME
This m e t h o d of poisoning is best suited along t h e river frontages after all stock have been removed a n d t h e p a s t u r e h a s been e a t e n down. Every year, about a m o n t h before t h e s t a r t of t h e s u m m e r r a i n s , pastoralists along t h e Fitzroy remove all stock from t h e a r e a . I t is d u r i n g this last m o n t h when feed is s h o r t a n d all stock have been removed t h a t poisoning should be done.
Pindan baiting within enclosures (see later) should also be carried out a t t h i s time because t e m p e r a t u r e s a r e high a n d t h e wallabies come in to w a t e r more often.
Baiting at other times of the year may be successful to a limited extent but the main attack should be launched just before the start of the "wet" season.
THE FURROW
For poisoning along t h e river frontages, pastoralists use a furrow—not so m u c h because of its a t t r a c t i o n t o t h e a n i m a l , b u t as an aid to finding exactly where t h e previous free feed was laid so t h a t later m a t e r i a l c a n be laid in t h e same a r e a . T h e furrow is therefore being used only as a marker.
ENCLOSURES
Pastoralists h a v e now extended the b a i t - ing programmes t o t h e P i n d a n country a n d baits a r e now used in p l a c e of w a t e r poisoning.
T h e generally accepted practice is t o build one or more enclosures about 15 yards square on, or close to wallaby p a d s leading into t h e w a t e r t r o u g h s (or d a m s ) . They should be no closer t h a n one c h a i n
from the water. The yards are fenced
•with five plain wires which is considered enough to prevent the entry of stock.
The same general baiting technique .should be used—
(1) Lay a light free feed of unpoisoned baits within the enclosure and leave well alone until all have been eaten;
(2) replace with second and subse- quent free feeds as required, each time increasing the amount of bait, and
(3) when it is considered that all the wallabies are eating at these en- closures, poisoned baits should be laid. It will only be necessary to lay about half as many poisoned baits as were laid in the last free feed.
Nearly all the wallabies will be killed in the next three to four days. After this the uneaten baits can be picked up and stored for later use at another baiting station.
COST OF BAITING
During the research work in 1953 the Agriculture Protection Board devised a machine for making baits at a rate of 120 a minute. The machine consisted of three main parts, stationery engine, mash mixer and bait former (the bait former was part
•of an old rabbit baiting machine). Later the machine was sold to a pastoralist in
the area and has given long and valuable service. At the time the machine cost about £200.
An extensive costing taken out in 1953 based on ruling rates for bran, pollard and strychnine, showed that poisoned baits cost 0.272 pence each. However, since then strychnine has gone up in price by 100 per cent, and this alone would now cost 0.22 pence for each bait. The increase in cost would be offset by the use of rice pollard and would probably result in baits costing no more than 0.3 pence each.
IN BRIEF
• Either the waste products from the rice milling industry (rice pollard) or wheaten bran and pollard should be used for baiting sandy wallabies.
• Baits should be friable, each con- taining £ grain of alkaloid (in- soluble) strychnine.
• Wallabies should be free fed at least three times at intervals of not less than two to three days.
• A single furrow can be used as a marker on the river frontage country to find out where the previous free feed was laid.
• Enclosures can be used successfully to poison in the Pindan country
—sizes and construction details are given.
613
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