Ferals, ferals, ferals...
​

On Saturday the 1st of April we ran a workshop on invasive fauna, held at the Karribank Country resort in the middle of the beautiful Porongurups on a stunning sunny day. We heard from speakers from the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) and the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) about the damage that ferals can, and are, doing to the environment and agriculture; and what we can all do to help reduce the numbers and the impact they are having. One thing that was a real eye-opener was the damage that feral pigs are doing in the wetter areas of our catchment, and how quickly their numbers are increasing. Speakers also discussed the difficulties faced in controlling feral cats, such as how there is limited funding due to not them not being a declared pest, and the difficulty of targeting them. The importance of combined efforts being made to control these invasive animals was made plaintively clear, with control being most effective when everyone is doing it; the first step in this is trying to increase awareness of all pest species. All talks were extremely informative and interesting, and all that attended learnt a great deal, and were all very keen to implement strategies and take action. After the talks everyone enjoyed a scrumptious afternoon tea and chatted about what we can do and how we will go about it. Thank you to all attendees, speakers and helpers on the day. If anyone is interested in finding out more about ferals, contact Jenni.