The PestSmart website is an invaluable resource for pest managers looking for information on managing feral and invasive species.
The cost of rabbits, wild dogs, foxes, feral pigs and other vertebrate pests to the Australian agriculture industry is now reportedly as high as $797 million per year. This figure is from the latest assessment of the economic impact that feral animals have on production, due to losses from livestock attacks and competition, along with the management costs associated their control.
This latest figure emphasises the need for strong, coordinated and collaborative action between the agriculture and pest control industries. The more people working together to tackle pests, the better.
A free online resource known as PestSmart, developed and managed by the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions, provides best practice information for managing vertebrate pests in Australia.
The PestSmart website distils 12 years of research on best practice pest animal management. It offers wide-ranging information such as pest animal toolkits – that incorporate factsheets, case studies, glovebox guides, videos and more – all available for free online. Information is available on wild dogs, rabbits, foxes, feral pigs and many other species. The toolkits are becoming well known amongst land managers who use them as a digital resource for learning more about pest animal management. Pest Smart is an invaluable too for pest managers who may find themselves searching for information about controlling species they encounter infrequently.
The PestSmart website is the place to learn more about pest animals, their impact, history, biology and control methods as well as discussions on social issues and animal welfare. Users can explore articles and reference material including a database of over 8,000 scientific research papers, maps of pest animal distribution, images and case studies.
One of the main drawcards of the site is its ability to easily and clearly find information about a pest animal of interest to you. The information is also available as hard copy printed glovebox guides, which can be requested by calling the Centre’s head office or via the website contact form.
The PestSmart site is in the process of being updated, which means over the coming months the information will be even easier to find and share.
