Other methods

Shooting

Shooting can kill animals instantly if the shooter takes care, uses the right calibre rifle (not a shotgun) and is a good marksman. The same is not true of unskilled or careless shooters who can wound many animals.

In some cases shooting is done on a commercial basis. For example, foxes are shot for their fur, donkeys for pet meat, and pigs for game meat. Before the calicivirus, rabbits were shot for meat and fur, but this industry has now collapsed.

However, shooting doesn't have a big impact on the population of a fast breeding species. For example, in 1992 the 2-3 million rabbits a year killed by commercial shooters were easily replaced by the remaining population of 200-300 million (1). In another example, recreational shooters killed 4540 goats in the Gammon Ranges (SA) over 660 man-days. This means that an average of 7 goats/man/day were killed, not a very effective method for controlling the goat population (2).

In areas inaccessible to shooters on foot, animals such as donkeys, buffaloes, goats, horses and pigs are shot from helicopters. There are 2 main problems with this method:

Evidence given to the Senate Select Committee investigating feral animals shows that helicopter shooting results in the wounding of many animals.

" Formal and informal evidence from Government officers conceded that helicopter operations do not result in clean kills for all animals. ... The Committee understands that the estimates of the number of animals wounded in helicopter shooting operations vary - anecdotal evidence suggests that the rate may be between 10 and 15 percent " (3).

Nevertheless, the Senate Committee supported the continued use of helicopter shooting in inaccessible areas, although they referred to this method as "the best of a bad lot". They further commented on their decision to support this type of shooting:

" This conclusion weighs heavily with the Committee, as several witnesses recognised that helicopter shooting will invariably result in the inhumane death of some animals ".

In one study, government officials examined horses shot from a helicopter. Since the accuracy of shooting was being studied, we would expect the maximum amount of care being used by the shooters.

The shoot-out took place in the Loves Creek area of the Northern Territory in 1986. The follow-up team examined 196 dead horses, and found an average of 2.75 bullets per horse. They described the deaths of these horses as follows:

" Of the horses examined, a few had obviously not been killed directly by the first bullet, they had moved some varying distance before being dispatched by a second shot. Several cases were of overkills, i.e. either of two bullets would have caused a quick death. The majority of the shots were directed to the heart/lung area, occasional neck shots particularly in foals were seen. Actual cause of death in most of the 196 examined was exsanguination from the heart or major lung vessels. The remnant died of cerebral trauma associated with neck shots. "

To minimise suffering, shooters are supposed to:

Whether these rules are always followed in practice is impossible to check.

Warren ripping

The warren is very important for rabbit survival. It gives protection from extreme weather and predators, especially for baby rabbits. When warrens are destroyed, it not only kills the rabbits inside, it deprives rabbits in the area of this protection.

A tractor or bulldozer is used to pull the ripper through the area covered by the warren. While it certainly kills rabbits, the way it does so is not humane (4).
" The cause of death is usually crushing, starvation or asphyxiation and some rabbits can also be damaged by the tines of the ripper (which penetrate up to a metre, 60cm apart) ".

The way rabbits die when their warrens are ripped is rather like humans die in an earthquake when their houses crash on top of them. Some die instantly, some are trapped with horrible injuries, and some are relatively uninjured, but would die of hunger or thirst if not rescued.

Dogging

Dogs have been used to catch rabbits and pigs in particular. In South Australia it is illegal to set one animal upon another. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act states: " A person ill treats and animal if that person - causes the animal to be killed or injured by another animal ".

In 1997 it became illegal in NSW to use the pig dog method, where dogs chase and grab a pig until the hunter arrives to cut its throat. Hunters are now only allowed to shoot pigs.

Apart from being cruel, dogging is also ineffective as a population control measure - it kills very few animals.

I would like to go to other documents on feral animals:

Feral animals in Australia: introduction
Poisons
Introduced diseases
Mustering for slaughter and export
Trapping
Alternatives to killing

References

  1. Wilson G et al, Wild Animal Resources, Bureau of Rural Resources (DPIE), Canberra, 1992
  2. Department of Agriculture SA, "Methods of controlling feral goats", Fact sheet AGDEX 573, December 1984
  3. Report by the Senate Select Committee on Animal Welfare, Culling of Large Feral Animals in the Northern Territory , Canberra, June 1991
  4. Report of the Feral Animal Search Conference, Canberra, 1991