Maremma dogs help farmers tackle feral predator problem

For farmers in regional areas, losing livestock to feral predators can be devastating. One Central West NSW farmer has found a solution in an ancient breed of dog.

Leo Tompkins, a farmer from Wattamondara, has been using Maremma livestock guardian dogs to protect his flock. After losing all of his lambs to feral predators, Mr Tompkins turned to the dogs to safeguard his property.

"We started with one [dog], and our numbers for sheep mortality and lamb mortality dropped drastically," Mr Tompkins said.

"Once we acquired our second dog … we found that we had barely any predation issues whatsoever."

A costly problem for farmers

According to research, pest animals such as wild dogs, feral pigs and foxes cost farmers almost $1 billion a year in livestock deaths and infrastructure damage.

Maremmano-Abruzzese sheepdogs, also known as Maremmas, are a breed of guardian dog that has been used for thousands of years to protect livestock.

Mr Tompkins said his guardian dogs had been an incredible addition to his property.

"[Wild] dogs were coming onto the property and either predating upon the lambs or the sheep themselves, or essentially playing with them and running them around to the point where they were stressed out and they would die from exhaustion and stress," he said.

"We were looking at losses for mature ewes up to 75 per cent of the flock … and then the entire lamb crop in multiple instances would be taken out by a neighbourhood wild dog."

A successful solution

University of Tasmania researcher Linda van Bommel has studied Maremmas for 20 years and surveyed 150 producers who used livestock guardian dogs.

"It's up to the predator to decide whether it heeds that message or not, and sometimes they get a bit ballsy, and they go in anyway," Ms van Bommel said.

About 66 per cent of the farmers in the survey said predation stopped after their dogs started working, and a further 30 per cent said predation had significantly decreased.

"In a lot of cases, even that decrease in predation can make the difference for a farmer, whether they're able to keep running their business with a profit, or it's just not really viable anymore," Ms van Bommel said.

Training and management crucial

Ms van Bommel said that while Maremmas were a highly effective solution, uptake was low due to a lack of training and management information.

"They're probably one of the most effective predator control methods that Australia has, but you do need to manage them properly," she said.

Paul Gibbs, senior biosecurity officer with Central Tablelands Local Land Services, is running guardian dog workshops in the Central West to help farmers learn how to use the dogs effectively.

"What I'm trying to do is let people have a good think about whether this is an option for them, whether it fits into their enterprise," Mr Gibbs said.

"It's not all smooth sailing; you have to understand you've got another animal that needs looking after."