Territory and Municipal Services are talking tough about illegal hunting in the Namadgi National Park:
“Illegal hunting in Namadgi National Park is a real problem,” said Namadgi’s Operations Manager Brett McNamara.
“Not only does the unauthorised access by hunters into the park pose a serious public safety risk but hunting dogs cause extensive damage to the native fauna of this protected area.
“Another disappointing trend is the increasing number of pigs introduced into the park by hunters purely for hunting purposes. These pigs bring with them a number of exotic diseases and undermine the efforts of our rangers to control the feral pig population.
“There will be an increased number of staff from the ACT Parks and Conservation Service and ACT Policing out across Namadgi over the next month utilising remote area monitoring combined with a substantial intelligence gathering program to compile a database of known offenders.
“These additional capabilities and extra resources mean that if you go into the park to hunt illegally it is just a matter of time until you get caught,” Mr McNamara said.
This despite just four months ago telling us they were winning the war on pigs.
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What’s Your opinion?
Bad news for banjo enthusiasts as rangers launch a crackdown on hunting in Namadgi
AAMC said :
Yep. And I’m off tomorrow to do my bit for the cause in one of the NSW state forests as part of the Game Council vermin reduction program. I’m fully licensed, registered and have all necessary documentation and equipment.
Illegal hunters are simply brain dead mongrels who give responsible firearm owners a bad name. I would chortle with glee if I heard that one of them got chewed up by a big boar.
And I really don’t get this business of hunting with dogs and knives. Pigs and the other introduced species are appalling pests, but they’re still living creatures and they should be eliminated quickly and humanely. Running them down with dogs and hacking them up with knives seems like some sort of loony “Lord of the Flies” thing to me.
I think it should be a compulsory part of every astronomy student’s studies in the ACT to spend a night in Namadgi along with their telescope. That should keep the ferel population down, wilds dogs, wild pigs and wild students.
KB1971 said :
What about trout? Since when were they native animals?
maniac said :
Ok come o! It takes great courage and big balls to take on a pig…..
….. armed only with a high powered rifle…
….from a distance…..
…while hiding……
maniac said :
Definitely over-compensating for inadequacies with their own attached ‘shooters’. I have never been a fan of paintball, but if it means these knuckle-draggers can work off their [ahem] shortcomings in the boudoir by ejeculating all over each in multi-coloured glory, ‘fill your boots’, says I.
But yes, do leave them away from the hikers.
NSW game council reports that in 2010-11 68,480 feral pigs were removed from the environment, 66,780 of which were taken on private land. As such, I would be surprised if people were releasing pigs into the national park for the purposes of hunting as it seems that there are plenty around without the assistance and plenty of private land holders who would be happy get rid of them. I think it is far more likely that they are just breeding……..
Additionally, pigs are incredibly damaging animals which fowl water, destroy crops and native vegetation and even prey on animals; and should be removed from the environment. From memory……… I think that DAFF estimate the impact of feral pigs on the economy at about $500 million p.a.
I agree that illegal hunting is problematic, however I do not think that hunting should be completely excluded from the repertoire of control solutions; ABC’s landline recently presented a report on a successful feral goat control program in a Victorian national park operating in conjunction with the sporting shooters Association of Australia (SSAA). In my mind effective hunting is a lot more human that current control mechanisms of poisoning and trapping; both very stressful and the effects of 1080 poison on an animal are very unpleasant.
maniac said :
I was out hunting the other day and I stopped next to a tree to have a leak. Unfortunately, it was right uner a wasps’ nest and one of them angry critters stung me halfway down the shaft; about 6″ from the end.
maniac said :
OK, what happens in Africa aside, you are wrong to generalise.
Yep people hunt deer for their trophy antlers, yep people hunt pigs for their trophy tusks, yep people foxes for fur, yep people hunt rabbits & hares for fun, yep people hunt cats for fun.
Hunting native animals in this country in illegal (not saying it doesnt happen) but all you have to do is pick up any hunting magazine or talk to any legitimate hunter & you will find that the trophy part of hunting is a bonus. Most hunters will knock a deer down & use the meat as well.
All the prized animals in Australia are introduced species with the exception of ducks (kangaroos are hunted for food or culled under licence); fox, rabbit, cat, dog, hare, deer, pig, brumby, buffalo are all introduced and are in pest proportions in Australia. Hunters are one part of helping keep the numbers under control & there is less collatoral damage than say using 1080 baits.
Katietonia said :
I know – I saw that when I logged on this morning and I was instantly salivating like crazy. How delicious do those piglets look!!!?!
boredPS said :
I doubt any shooter would either be incompetent or careless enough to risk shooting a human. Last time this happened was back in the mid-90s when some greenie trying to disturb a hunt got shot with a bit of small-sized pellets from duck-hunter who probably knew that his choice of weapon meant he was a) unlikely to do any serious damage and )b not readily identify him.
As for the dogs – we invite them onto our property to keep the pigs down (they come in from the National Park, which is a haven for feral animals) and never had a problem. They are rough-looking guys, so I understand you’re scared. Maybe hang out at the coffee shop instead next time.
KB1971 said :
Exactly, I read that and ROTFLed all the way to work – National Parks are packed to the gunnels with feral animals as a result of their stupid, limp-wristed policies (no hunting!) and idiotic “traditional owners”(no hunting?) nonsense so they invent a ludicrous idea that people are deliberately stocking the Parks with pigs.
ROTFLing again, just thinking about how stupid Brett is, or how stupid he thinks the intended audience for this press release must be.
KB1971 said :
No, but men who hunt for fun/sport and not for the purpose of culling/food/pest control are little men with tiny private parts.
“Another disappointing trend is the increasing number of pigs introduced into the park by hunters purely for hunting purposes.”
Any proof of this? Has anybody actually been caugth & charged with this offence (releasing a pest into the wild)?
We back onto the northern section of KNP, that in turn is surrounded by thousands of acres of state forest & private land where the feral pig poulation is a pretty big problem. Do they think that these animals do not migrate?
boredPS – How did you know they were hunters? Were they running around with guns shooting everything? Or were they pig hunters using dogs & knives?
Contrary to popular townie belief, hunters are not the antichrist.
To claim what is done here is “hunting” is laughable. It’s pig shooting. Big brave hunters, ha! Bunch of sadistic thickos.
Awww but look at the little stripey one.
This is welcome news, we went hiking the other day and heard hunters, I would rather not get accidentally shot in the back of the head by some redneck or eaten alive by his pitbull hunting dog while hiking
That headline is quite funny on a couple of levels in the current climate and scope of debate on this site.
Well played.