With adult wild dogs showing their adolescents how to hunt and kill, spring also coincides with the major calving period for property owners.

The new-born calves and other smaller livestock such as sheep are easy prey, says the service's team leader invasive species Dean Chamberlain.

He said wild dogs are known to utilise all landscapes across the local land services region, including the Port Macquarie-Hastings.

"This includes predominantly grazing country to the west right back to the peri-urban and urban areas of the eastern coastline," he said.

"Impacts caused by wild dogs varies from attacks on livestock, predominantly calves, with many producers cattle calving from the August to November period, and smaller livestock such as sheep and goats being particularly vulnerable, to attacks on domestic pets, particularly domestic dogs.

"The impacts from wild dogs in many areas where nil tenure coordinated group baiting programs are carried out on a proactive strategic basis in the autumn and spring are generally kept at low levels with few impacts on livestock. 

"Areas where control is intermittent or does not occur, tend to report increased impacts during the autumn and spring periods resulting in reactive control programs to alleviate the impacts."

While it is difficult to determine wild dog populations or compare populations over time, the local land services key markers such as impact, mainly on livestock, as a gauge of wild dog activity shows fairly constant population over the past six years.

"However over the past few years we have been receiving reports of an increased number of impacts on domestic dogs in the peri-urban interface between rural land and the urban areas. 

"It is hard to know if the increase in reporting is due to increased attacks or better reporting. 

"These wild dog attacks range from attacks on domestic dogs to wild dogs confronting people, particularly when they are walking their domestic dogs."

Mr Chamberlain said the legislation governing the management of wild dogs in NSW falls within the Biosecurity Act 2015 and this places a general biosecurity duty on everyone within NSW to discharge their biosecurity duty by managing the biosecurity risk posed by pest such as wild dogs in the appropriate manner.

"To facilitate this the North Coast Local Land Services has recently developed a regional strategic pest animal management plan to assist landholders to discharge their biosecurity duty. 

"The plan can be found at www.northcoast.lls.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/pestplan   

"A number of pest animals have been identified in the plan as priority pests in the North Coast region including wild dogs. 

"A priority of the plan is to develop local pest plans with the identified stakeholders to create landscape scale nil tenure proactive programs that minimise the impacts caused by pest animals, now and into the future.

"The LLS has worked with many landholders and other stakeholders within the Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area to facilitate cooperative nil tenure programs that has provided relief from wild dog impacts across the region. 

"The development of new local plans under the RSPAMP will further improve wild dog management by putting measures in place to increase the capability and capacity of land mangers to effectively manage pest animals in the region," he said.

Land managers are also encouraged to use other control methods such as trapping, shooting and exclusion fencing which adds value to the overall management effort. 

Monitoring for wild dog activity through the use of remote cameras or simple observation of tracks and scats can also provide information to landholders about the wild dog activity in their area and management can be initiated before impacts occur.

“We provide a free vertebrate pest training (VPT) course to landholders providing you with information about the relevant and available control methods, as well as building on practical skills to improve wild dog control,” Mr Chamberlain added.

Interested landholders are encouraged to contact their local North Coast Local Land Services office to find out how to be involved. Phone 1300 795 299 and ask to speak to an invasive pests biosecurity officer.

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