Wild dogs can kill and harm livestock, especially sheep. As a result, they have been identified as a priority pest animal under the 11 Regional Strategic Pest Animal Management Plans developed by Local Land Services.
As an identified pest animal, it is necessary to manage wild dogs under the General Biosecurity Duty of the Biosecurity Act 2015. The General Biosecurity Duty requires any person dealing with biosecurity matter (such as wild dogs), and who knows or ought to know of the biosecurity risks posed by that biosecurity matter, to take measures to prevent, minimise or eliminate the risk as far as is reasonably practicable. This means that the occupier of lands (both private and public) is required to take all practical measures to minimise the risk of any negative impacts of wild dogs on their land or neighbouring lands.
This requirement is directly informed by the NSW Wild Dog Strategy, which promotes a balance between managing wild dogs in areas where they have negative impacts and preserving the ecological role of dingoes. The conservation of dingoes is listed under the goals of the strategy and is to be achieved by having wild dog management plans focus control on areas where the risk of negative impacts are greatest and not undertaking control in other parts of the landscape with a low risk of negative impacts from wild dogs, to allow dingoes to fulfil their natural ecological role.
This policy explains how National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) meets its obligations to control wild dogs under the NSW Wild Dog Strategy. NPWS aims to minimise the risk of wild dogs causing damage while allowing for the conservation of dingoes within areas of national parks and reserves with a low risk of negative impact.
Policy
- NPWS undertakes wild dog control to meet its obligations under the Biosecurity Act 2015 and the NSW Wild Dog Strategy.
- NPWS may also undertake wild dog control to:
- ensure the safety of staff and visitors in parks
- minimise the impacts of wild dogs on biodiversity, especially where predation by wild dogs has been identified as a threat to species listed under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (including sites identified under the Saving our Species program)
- minimise the flow of feral dog genes into the dingo population.