Unravelling feral pig social and spatial behaviours to reduce disease management uncertainty

disease feral pigs

Status: New

Start date: 15 June 2024

Completion date: 15 July 2026

Project code: M-206

Species/Threats: Emergency Animal Disease (EAD)

Summary

An Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) outbreak in wild animals sometimes require quick, decisions in uncertain conditions.

Current methods for managing EAD outbreaks in Australia rely on limited data and assumptions. This project aims to provide reliable information to support effective decision-making, reducing the economic and social risks of an EAD outbreak in wild animals.

Objectives

The objectives of this project are to:

  1. Establish more realistic and reliable Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) models by considering the structured social interactions of feral ungulates, rather than assuming they mix randomly. This will lead to better disease management recommendations.
  2. Improve models to simulate disease scenarios for better management strategies.
  3. Assess the safety and utility of aerial shooting for managing EAD in feral ungulate populations.

Project team

Dr Andrew Bengsen

Project Lead | NSW DPIRD

Project partners

More like this

Completed

National registration with the APVMA of a feral cat bait Stage 1
In Progress

Informing risks of ASF transmission by collection of feral pig movement data
Scientists in laboratory.
In Progress

Enhanced preparedness to diagnose 200+ priority pests and diseases
VIEW ALL RESEARCH PROJECTS