Call for hunting trial on public land

Great Southern farmers are insisting that a two-year trial of recreational hunting on public land be adopted by the State Government to help limit the number of feral animals and pests on farming properties.

Recommended by the State Parliament's public administration committee in March, the trial would use an online booking and GPS tracking system and would be conducted on public land in the South West.

WA limits recreational hunting to private land only, and the trial is intended to help eliminate the number of feral animals that could wander onto private property.

Scott Newbey farms a property at Broomehill, which borders public land including national reserves and the Broomehill golf course.

He said shooting as a form of pest control was necessary.

"I have tried calculating what foxes and rabbits cost my livestock enterprise, and we weren't talking hundreds, more $10,000 to my business alone because of pests," Mr Newbey said.

"I am surrounded by reserves and crown lands that have very little of their native fauna left.

"We plant thousands of trees and rabbits chew and destroy them, and foxes have pushed most small indigenous species to non-existence in my area."

Katanning farmer Shane Butterworth said if the trial was adopted it would ease the pressure on protecting his livestock, especially around lambing season.

"We have a problem with mainly foxes and you always try and thin them out but it is difficult to maintain their numbers," he said.

"Nine out of 10 times during lambing you will see foxes out there, but look at the fox shoots that have been organised in Katanning, the lambing percentages have definitely increased since they started, so the trial would be worthwhile."

According to the Department of Parks and Wildlife, introduced predators such as foxes, feral cats and wild pigs are a major threat in the decline of most threatened WA native animals.