CONSECUTIVE good seasons have led to an explosion in the region's feral pig population with numbers, estimated in the thousands, the worst one Tamworth ranger has seen in five years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Continuing dry conditions could cause numbers to fall significantly, but in the meantime feral pigs are on the move in search of green pick and water.
At its annual general meeting in Adelaide last week the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) agreed to take a leading role in promoting a national program to control and ultimately eradicate feral pigs.
AVA members were concerned because of the agricultural damage and environmental degradation feral pigs cause and their capacity to spread exotic diseases.
Members called for examination of research at a meeting of government authorities, livestock industries and environmentalists, which would also determine the need for further research on feral pig control.
Outgoing AVA president Robert Baker said a single case of exotic disease in just one feral pig could halt Australia's $7 billion export industries and take a decade to eliminate.
Dr Baker said the rapid spread of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK last year was a frightening example of how rapidly disease could spread from herd to herd.
"The ability of feral pigs in Australia to travel with impunity from farm to farm means there are 23 million time bombs wandering around the Australian
countryside," Dr Baker said.
"More than 20 exotic diseases can affect pigs and there are strong fears that foot-and-mouth disease could be one of them.
"No feral livestock pool in the world presents such a threat to its domestic livestock and yet programs to control feral pigs have been largely regional and uncoordinated."
Armidale-based NSW Agri-culture agriculture protection officer Tony Barnes said feral pigs on the tablelands dug up pastures, damaged fences and fouled creeks and dams.
He said further west near Narrabri, Moree and Warialda feral pig numbers had increased by thousands and damage was on a larger scale, mainly to crops.
"There is a lot of control work going on, poisoning, trapping and aerial shooting," Mr Barnes said.
"Out west hundreds of feral pigs have been killed, while on the tablelands the success is not as high."
Rural Lands Protection Board ranger George Goodchild said feral pig numbers were the worst he'd seen in five years.
Any feral pig control should be done on a coordinated basis because individuals tended to disperse the pigs, which formed new mobs.
"I prefer to keep them quiet and poison a mob rather than spread them onto neighbouring properties," Mr Goodchild said.