The Invasive Species Council has slammed the NSW government’s support for the Shooters Party’s so-called Conservation Hunting Bill, warning that MPs are promoting a ‘biological delusion’.
During debate in the Legislative Council yesterday, the Minns Government pointed to 17,048 invasive animals killed by hunters in state forests last year as evidence of hunters making a contribution. But this misrepresents the reality of invasive species management.
Those numbers demonstrate instead why the Conservation Hunting Bill has nothing to do with conservation and why recreational hunting is futile for invasive animal control – unless it supplements more effective methods of control as part of professional, coordinated monitoring programs.
Dr Carol Booth, Invasive Species Council Policy Director said: ‘This Conservation Hunting Bill – and its very name – are built on a delusion: that hunters contribute to conservation every time they kill an invasive animal.
‘17,000 animals sounds impressive – until you look closer. One in 5 were rabbits. Across hundreds of thousands of hectares, only 400 cats, 1,500 foxes and 3,400 deer were killed – all abundant, high-impact species across NSW.
‘The data shows that across the 233 state forests where hunting is permitted, it took an average of 3 days of hunting to kill a single invasive animal. The average licensed hunter killed less than one animal across the entire year. That’s not a contribution – that’s a drop in the ocean and futile for invasive animal control.
‘There are millions of invasive animals in NSW. Killing a few animals here and there is not population control and it is definitely not conservation. Effective control means removing more animals than can be quickly replaced through reproduction or immigration. For pigs and foxes, this usually means culling more than two-thirds of a population, for rabbits almost 90%.
‘Granting more access to public lands and more influence over invasive species management, and diverting public funds to bounties and propaganda, is likely to undermine effective control programs.
‘A Liberal Party spokesperson claimed in the debate yesterday that hunting is ‘a proven method to control overabundant pests’. There are no such studies. The most recent study – by the Victorian government – found that even when fox hunting is incentivised by a bounty, it is ineffective, with populations quickly rebounding or climbing even higher and most foxes killed being the less wary juveniles. Fraud was also a problem.
‘NSW is facing a biodiversity crisis driven by invasive species. This Bill takes us backwards.’
Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004
Background:
State forests hunting stats
| Reported pest animals harvested from NSW state forests | |||||
| 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | Total 3 years | % all animals | |
| Pigs | 3893 | 4054 | 4982 | 12929 | 28% |
| Rabbits | 3625 | 3277 | 3470 | 10372 | 23% |
| Deer | 2487 | 3137 | 3417 | 9041 | 20% |
| Goats | 1341 | 1797 | 2273 | 5411 | 12% |
| Foxes | 1189 | 1450 | 1502 | 4141 | 9% |
| Hares | 903 | 650 | 790 | 2343 | 5% |
| Cats | 349 | 424 | 426 | 1199 | 3% |
| Dogs | 127 | 169 | 188 | 484 | 1% |
| Total | 13914 | 14958 | 17048 | 45920 | |
| Restricted License holders | Hunting days in state forest | Animals killed/ licence holder | Animals killed / hunting day |
| 23,916 | 68,076 | 0.7 | 0.35 |
On average, each licensed hunter killed 0.7 invasive animals.
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