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Annual exponential rate of increase of feral goats in half-degree blocks surveyed by fixed-wing aircraft across Queensland (1984-92, 2001), New South Wales (1993-2011), South Australia (1989-2011) and Western Australia (1987-2011). Surveys in blocks outside the core area (Fig. 1) were infrequent. Rangeland bioregions are also indicated.
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... In Australia, the feral goat population has increased dramatically since 1997, with the 2010 population of feral goats estimated to be 3.3 million ( Pople and Froese 2012 ). Many producers have taken advantage of this increase in feral goat numbers and have domesticated these animals for production ( Pople and Froese 2012 ). ...
... In Australia, the feral goat population has increased dramatically since 1997, with the 2010 population of feral goats estimated to be 3.3 million ( Pople and Froese 2012 ). Many producers have taken advantage of this increase in feral goat numbers and have domesticated these animals for production ( Pople and Froese 2012 ). This study was conceived to provide more information on both sheep and goat landscape utilization to livestock producers and land managers in Australia. ...
Landscape distribution and grazing management of small ruminants are becoming more important issues as the sheep and goat industry continues to grow. The objective of this study was to evaluate spatial movement patterns of sheep and goats in Queensland, Australia using Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking to determine daily distance traveled, distance traveled from water, activity levels, and the influence of ambient temperature on these metrics. Optimized hotspot analysis was also performed to determine areas of increased small ruminant presence across the landscape. GPS positions were recorded at 10-min intervals over the course of several months. Sheep and goats traveled an average distance from water of 0.6-1.1 km, with a maximum of 2.4 km. Daily distance traveled of sheep and goats averaged 6-9 km ·d −1 , with a maximum of 11 km ·d −1. Average daily activity ranged between 42% and 47%. The overall trend of the datum showed that increased temperature led to decreased daily distance traveled, distance traveled from water, and activity of sheep and goats. The hotspot analyses showed a higher concentration of sheep and goats near water sources. Understanding small ruminant distribution in extensive rangeland pastures helps producers implement management regimes to improve efficacy and sustainability of land use and production.
... In semi-arid and arid Australia, aerial surveys have described fluctuations in populations of feral pigs (Sus scrofa; Gentle et al. 2019), feral goats (Capra hircus; Pople and Froese 2012) and kangaroos (Macropus spp. and Osphranter rufus;McLeod et al. 2021). ...
... Helicopter surveys using distance sampling have become an established method for estimating the abundance of large wild vertebrates in Queensland (e.g. Pople and Froese 2012;Gentle et al. 2019;Finch et al. 2021) and are regularly used to monitor deer populations in eastern Australia . In this study, a Robinson R44 helicopter was flown along nine parallel, east-west 50-80 km transects, 20 km apart, across the region (Fig. 1b) in July 2014. ...
... Eco Logical Australia 2015; Cunningham et al. 2022;Moloney et al. 2022), and that large herbivore populations in the dry tropics can fluctuate considerably. Indeed, the population dynamics seen here in chital deer, characterised by steep drought declines and lengthy recoveries, is like that seen in other large herbivore populations in the semiarid and arid zones of Australia (Pople and Froese 2012;Gentle et al. 2019;McLeod et al. 2021). Fluctuations in large herbivore abundance occur for reasons other than rainfalldriven food supply, such as predation, disease and winter severity (Saether 1997;Ogutu and Owen-Smith 2005). ...
Context Chital deer (Axis axis) are long established in the northern Queensland dry tropics, and at high densities are considered pests by cattle graziers. Cost-effective management is difficult for widespread, fluctuating populations of vertebrate pests such as these deer. Historically, control of chital deer has been limited to recreational and some commercial ground-shooting and trapping. Concerns over chital deer impacts were heightened during drought in 2015 and funding became available for aerial culling. Aim This study set out to determine (1) distribution and abundance, (2) seasonal reproductive output, (3) potential and actual rates of increase and their determinants, and (4) efficient management strategies for chital deer in the northern Queensland dry tropics. Methods In 2014, ~13 000 km2 of the main distribution was surveyed by helicopter. Multiple vehicle ground surveys per year monitored chital deer density on two properties during 2013–2022. Seasonal shot samples of deer on both properties assessed reproductive output during 2014–2016. Aerial surveys during 2016–2020 determined chital deer densities on seven properties, prior to aerial culling on four properties. Finally, the maximum rate of increase of chital deer was calculated from life-history data. Key results Regionally, chital deer are patchily distributed and so are best monitored locally where densities can be >50 deer km−2. Vehicle ground surveys recorded an ~80% decline in chital deer populations on two properties over 7–10 months during drought in early 2015, with a similar rate being recorded by aerial survey at a third site. There was little recruitment during the drought, but the decline was seemingly driven by adult mortality. Aerial shooting further reduced populations by 39–88% to <3 deer km−2 on four properties. Where there was no continuing control, culled populations recovered to pre-cull densities or higher after 2.4 years. One unculled property recovered to its pre-drought density after 6 years. Rates of recovery were at or higher than the maximum annual rate of increase for chital deer estimated here as 26–41%. Conclusions Drought has a lasting effect on this chital deer population, because of the resulting large population decline and the modest rate of any recovery in the absence of culling. Culling can reduce populations to low density, but the removal rate needs to be sustained to suppress future growth. Implications Drought provides a strategic opportunity to further reduce chital deer populations for enduring control. Large reductions are feasible given the clumped dispersion of populations within properties and in the region.
... Dingoes have been predicted to reduce feral goat numbers (Forsyth et al. (2018), and dingoes introduced to islands have been shown to eradicate goats (Allen et al. 2020). Previously dense feral goat populations were reported to have disappeared over large regions of the southern rangelands of Western Australia since the return of dingoes (Pople and Froese 2012), with estimated reductions from 1 million in 2005 to 150 000 in 2011 (Western Australian Wild Dog Action Group 2016). The re-arrival of significant dingo populations in these regions came immediately prior to the collapse of feral goat populations, and dingoes are the sole cause reported for the reduction in goat numbers in the region by the pastoral industry (first-hand reports to the authors from multiple graziers in the Goldfields, Murchison and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia; Western Australian Wild Dog Action Group 2016). ...
Australia's largest land carnivore, the dingo, has been targeted by control programs in many agricultural landscapes since European settlement because of the judgement that dingoes cause costs to producers through the killing of livestock. As Australian pastoralists, we challenge the assumption that dingoes will only cause costs to producers. Based on our personal experiences and from research, we provide an alternative view, namely that in certain circumstances, there are major economic and ecological benefits of maintaining dingoes in grazing landscapes by controlling the unmanaged grazing pressure. As cattle producers, we have obtained significant financial gains for our family businesses, and environmental benefits on our properties by maintaining dingoes. Dingoes greatly reduce high-density populations of larger kangaroo species and some feral animals, especially goats. Such unmanaged grazing is persistently identified as a major factor in landscape degradation across large areas of Australian rangelands. The Australian pastoral industry as a whole, and the government departments that support it, need to evaluate, consider and discuss the economic and ecological benefits as well as the costs of maintaining dingoes in Australian pastoral landscapes. © 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Rangeland Society.
... Goats were brought to Australia with European settlement and have become feral pests through a combination of accidental and deliberate releases of domestic goats (Fleming, 2004;Anon, 2011). Feral goats are more common in rocky or hilly semi-arid areas in western New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (Qld), South Australia (SA) and Western Australia (WA) (Anon, 2011;Pople and Froese, 2012), although high densities occur in the high rainfall areas along the eastern Australian coast, in the highlands of the Great Dividing Range (Fleming, 2004). The population of feral goats in western NSW was estimated at 3.38 million in 2013 (GICA, 2015), with annual increases of 5-10% of the population in a number of areas (Pople and Froese, 2012). ...
... Feral goats are more common in rocky or hilly semi-arid areas in western New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (Qld), South Australia (SA) and Western Australia (WA) (Anon, 2011;Pople and Froese, 2012), although high densities occur in the high rainfall areas along the eastern Australian coast, in the highlands of the Great Dividing Range (Fleming, 2004). The population of feral goats in western NSW was estimated at 3.38 million in 2013 (GICA, 2015), with annual increases of 5-10% of the population in a number of areas (Pople and Froese, 2012). ...
... Feral goats are harvested for live export or processed as game meat, with feral goats making up approximately 90% of goats sent to slaughter in Australia (Pople and Froese, 2012;Jenkins et al., 2018;GICA, 2015). In 2010, 1.6 million feral goats were processed in abattoirs, with meat used for domestic consumption as well as being exported (Pople and Froese, 2012); the value of exported goat meat in 2014 was $248.1 million (GICA, 2015). ...
Feral goats, Capra hircus (Bovidae), currently occur across 28% of Australia, and are found in all states and territories as well as some offshore islands. Feral goats are harvested for live export or processed as game meat, with feral goats making up approximately 90% of goats sent to slaughter in Australia. Nymphs of the pentastomid parasite, Linguatula serrata, are common parasites of goats elsewhere in the world, where they cause Halzoun or Marrara disease in humans through the consumption of nymphs in raw or semi-cooked edible offal. Despite being commonly encountered in cattle at slaughter in Australia, L. serrata nymphs have never been reported from feral goats in Australia. Goats at slaughter, however, commonly show infections of lymph nodes, the majority of which are diagnosed as caseous lymphadenitis caused by bacteria, although a small number have no known aetiology. Examination of 33 feral goats from locations in New South Wales and South Australia found a Linguatula sp. nymph encased in the mesenteric lymph node of one goat from the Cooma region of New South Wales. The potential risk of transmission of Linguatula sp. to humans and other domestic animals is discussed. This study has highlighted the importance of continued surveys of feral animals for infection with parasites, especially as their distribution changes.
... Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. The sample of producers was taken across Australia, with demographic data suggesting an underrepresentation of goat producers in Western Australia and South Australia (Pople and Froese, 2012). Comparison data for goat producers in Victoria and Tasmania are not available. ...
Australia’s goat industry is one of the largest goat product exporters in the world, managing both farmed and wild caught animals. To protect and maintain the competitive advantage afforded to the Australian goat industry by the absence of many diseases endemic elsewhere, it is important to identify the vulnerability of producers to livestock disease incursions. This study developed a framework of producer vulnerability built from the beliefs and practices of producers that may impact on their likelihood of exposure and response capacity to an emergency animal disease (EAD), using foot and mouth disease as a model. A cross-sectional questionnaire gathered information on producer/enterprise demographics, animal health management and biosecurity practices, with 107 participating in the study. The biosecurity measures that were most commonly implemented by producers were always using animal movement documentation for purchased stock (74.7%) and isolating new stock (73.1%). However, moderate to low uptake of biosecurity protocols related to visitors to the property were reported. Response capacity variables such as checking animals daily (72.0%) and record keeping (91.7%) were reported by the majority of respondents, with 40.7% reporting yearly veterinary inspection of their animals. Using the vulnerability framework, a Bayesian Network model was developed and populated by the survey data, and the relationships between variables were investigated. Six vulnerability profiles were developed, with three levels of exposure (high, moderate, low) and two levels of response capacity (high, low), as described by producer demographics and practices. The most sensitive exposure variables on producer vulnerability included implementation of visitor biosecurity and control of feral animals. Results from this study can inform risk based perspectives and decisions around biosecurity and surveillance resource allocation within the goat industry. The results also highlight opportunities for improving Australia’s preparedness for a future EAD incursion by considering producer behaviour and beliefs by applying a vulnerability framework.
... On the contrary, it seems clear that mesic woody vegetation initially declined under widespread Aboriginal burning, and later proliferated whenever the frequency of landscape burning was reduced in prehistoric, historic and modern times, for whatever reason [5, 11-14, 20, 22, 64]. Plagues of feral goats [65] and deer [66] have attended recent woody thickening in semiarid and humid zones respectively [13,18]. ...
... Meat goat enterprises dominate the Australian goat industry. Meat goats are widely distributed, with over 70% of the herd in western New South Wales (NSW), and others concentrated in central southern Queensland (Qld) and in South Australia (SA), south of the dog fence, and Western Australia (WA) (Pople and Froese 2012). In 2018, 1.65 million goats were slaughtered in Australia, predominantly for supplying goat meat export markets (MLA 2019). ...
... The majority (90%) of meat goats are sourced from the semiarid or arid rangelands, where they are either harvested from free-roaming wild populations or produced in extensively managed production systems (MLA 2006b). The wild goat population in the southern rangelands of Australia was estimated as 4.1 million in 2018 (Waters et al. 2018), but it is difficult to distinguish wild from managed goats in the aerial surveys used (Pople and Froese 2012). The Australian rangeland goat is a composite incorporating dairy, fibre and meat goat breeds, that has evolved over the past 200 years (MLA 2006b). ...
Goat meat production is an expanding industry in Australia. However, there is limited data quantifying the levels of reproductive performance, particularly under extensively grazed rangeland conditions, which would inform interventions to improve performance. This review aimed to quantify the levels of reproduction, time and causes of reproductive wastage in goats. It considers the levels of fertility, fecundity, embryonic loss, fetal loss and post-natal survival reported under Australian conditions, and comparisons are made with international reports. Key management factors that may contribute to reproductive performance include breed, seasonality, nutritional conditions, and weather conditions at kidding. While goats are potentially prolific breeders, in Australia, the variation in weaning rate (kids/doe joined) among properties is large (51–165%), although the causes of this variation are not well defined. Generally, conception and kidding rates are high, although fetal loss associated with undernutrition is more likely in goats than sheep. As with sheep, perinatal losses are generally the largest source of wastage, with an average 20% kid mortality, but this level is influenced by litter size and appears to be higher under extensive rangeland systems. The causes of perinatal kid loss under Australian conditions are similar to those in sheep, with starvation–mismothering–exposure and dystocia or stillbirth the key causes. Studies are needed to accurately quantify the level and causes of reproductive wastage in commercial herds, including a range of management situations, to enable effective interventions to be developed.
... Most of the study area is used for extensive cattle and, in the eastern and southern portions, sheep grazing, with relatively small areas occupied by mining leases and conservation reserves. Large macropods occur across the area and are most abundant in semiarid regions (Pople and Grigg 2001), with high densities of feral and, increasingly, semidomestic goats in eastern parts of the study areas (Pople and Froese 2012). Rabbits were historically in plague proportions throughout large areas south of the Tropic of Capricorn (23 degrees, 26 minutes, 22 seconds latitude) but have declined since the introduction of myxomatosis and calici virus in the 1950s and 1990s, respectively, although they remain in high densities in some areas (Scanlan et al. 2006). ...
The ecological history of rangelands is often presented as a tale of devastation, where fragile drylands are irreversibly degraded through inappropriate land use. However, there is confusion about how to recognize and measure degradation, especially in low-productivity environments characterized by extreme natural variability and where abrupt and comprehensive management upheavals preclude benchmarks. These issues have important consequences for rangeland management programs, which are typically founded on presumptions of substantial and ongoing degradation from former “natural” states. We explore complementary approaches to critically assess degradation: the historical record, long-term grazing exclosures, surveys for potentially rare and sensitive plant species, and assessment of water-remote areas in relation to rare plant occurrence. Employing these approaches in inland Australia, we show that prevailing paradigms have become entrenched despite being inconsistent with empirical evidence. Our methodology can be applied to drylands with abrupt changes in management and contentious ecological narratives.
... The notion of a relatively grazing-sensitive arid-zone flora is most relevant to locations such as the Australian continent. Here there is a sharp divide between pre-and postpastoralism in the former, there were low densities of large native herbivores and in the latter high densities of managed herds of livestock, a proliferation of exotic herbivores, including rabbits (Scanlan et al. 2006) and goats (Pople and Froese 2012), and enhanced densities of native herbivores . Water-remote gradients have been considered relevant to the vegetation of drylands in North America (Hart et al. 1993, Fusco et al. 1995, but in Africa, where large wild herbivores have persisted and there are ancient traditions of subsistence rangeland herding (Freier et al. 2014) the possibility of a grazing-sensitive flora persisting in water-remote locations is less tenable. ...
... Macropod densities have probably been enhanced by pastoral management (predator control, low levels of hunting, availability of water, and manipulation of habitat by clearing and grazing) and their densities decline across the aridity gradient from about 30 to 5 animals/ km 2 (Pople and Grigg 2001). Feral and semi-domesticated goats also occur in high densities in the sandstone ranges and in southern parts of the study area ( Fig. 1; Pople and Froese 2012). ...
In many of the world's arid regions there has been a dramatic increase in grazing pressure with herds of livestock sustained by the provision of artificial water points. In these systems it has been suggested that grazing‐sensitive plant species will have contracted to refuges distant from water points where grazing impacts are low. This association was tested using a large data set of presence/absence records for rare plant species throughout the northeastern Australian arid zone. The presence records of only one of 45 species were statistically associated with lower grazing activity, as a function of distance‐to‐water, than the absence records. The field observation that this species is rarely grazed suggests it is not susceptible to grazing pressure. In general, the study supports assertions that populations of short‐lived plants in drylands are resilient in the face of exaggerated livestock grazing because herbivores are not in sufficient densities to have an impact during the sporadic periods of high rainfall when plants can complete their life cycles. However, long‐lived palatable species may be extinction‐prone in grazed landscapes over long time frames if recruitment is curtailed by grazing.
... Also present at the Cape Range Peninsula is the feral goat. This species was first introduced by European settlers and is now widespread throughout Australia, particularly in the semiarid pastoral regions, including areas of rugged terrain such as the Cape Range Peninsula (Kendrick 1993;Pople and Froese 2012). Goats have a broad diet containing a predominance of browse and lesser amounts of grasses, when available ( Dawson and Ellis 1996;Bartolome et al. 1998;Clancy and Croft 2008). ...
The black-flanked rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis lateralis) is a threatened species, once widespread throughout Western Australia but now restricted to disjunct populations including those of Cape Range National Park. It is a herbivore with a foraging range restricted to rocky outcrops and, as such, may be impacted by competition for resources from other native or introduced herbivores. This study compared the diet of the black-flanked rock-wallaby with those of co-occurring species, the euro (Macropus robustus erubescens) and the feral goat (Capra hircus), from two gorges at Cape Range National Park, to determine whether there is overlap in dietary niches. Diet composition was determined using microhistological analysis of faecal pellets in comparison with reference plant material. The black-flanked rock-wallaby diet consisted predominately of browse/forbs with some variation across seasons (63% in summer months 74% in winter months) this overlapped significantly with the diet of goats (Schoener Index: 0.79-0.88), but not euros (SI: 0.41-0.57), whose diet consisted predominantly of grasses (72-78%). There was, however, a significant overlap in the consumption of plants with stellate hairs for all three herbivores (SI: 0.89-0.98). Dietary overlap between rock-wallabies and goats may indicate a mechanism for competition, supporting continuing measures for reduction of goat numbers in Cape Range National Park.
