Efficacy of canid pest ejectors in a peri-urban landscape

Abstract

Understanding what and how wildlife interact with lethal control tools can assist land managers to improve the efficiency of their management objectives. The canid pest ejector (CPE) is a control device available for use in Australia for the management of wild dogs (Canis familiaris) and European red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), but there is limited data to inform best practice deployment for their safe and effective use in peri-urban environments. 1080 or PAPP CPEs were deployed continuously for twelve months, on five peri-urban properties across the Queensland Sunshine Coast, at the highest density possible according to toxin regulations and council risk assessment.
Camera traps (on video) were used to record all CPE interactions and additional cameras (on photo) were placed across each property to monitor wild dog presence. All wild dogs detected on cameras were individually identified when possible and their interactions with CPEs recorded. All non-target species encounters and interactions with CPEs were also recorded. We individually identified 82 wild dogs across all sites. Most wild dogs (77%) encountered a CPE. Of those that encountered a CPE, most (71%) interacted with them but only 18% went on to activate the device.
Overall, 10% of wild dogs detected on the properties activated a CPE. A high number of CPE activations (38%) were caused by Australian brush turkeys (Alectura lathami); however, encounter and interaction rates for turkeys were higher than any other species. CPEs in peri-urban areas are a useful and target-specific tool to control some, but not all, wild dogs. There would be no major advantage to increasing the density of CPEs in peri-urban environments however, the effectiveness and efficiency of control could be improved by increasing the frequency of activations. Further research should focus on improving device activation by the target species.