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Mick Everett from AGWEST fits a donkey with a tracking collar. The
donkey can then be tracked to locate other animals
Photo: Andrew Johnson
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THE adaptation of modern tracking technology, including
solar-powered devices has proved a boon for a major program to
eradicate feral donkeys in the southern Kimberley.
The Judas program, begun in 1994, achieved a major milestone
recently when it reached Bow River station 150 kilometers from
Kununurra. Over the last several years the program has expanded to
include 38 pastoral leases, two major reserves and the Bungle
Bungle National Park.
This encompasses an area half the size of Victoria. AGWEST's Andrew
Johnson said coordinated control of feral donkeys has been under
way since 1978. The program has evolved from using broadscale
shooting to utilising the latest wildlife tracking technology for
feral animal control.
This has reduced the population of feral donkeys and horses in the
Kimberley by over half a million animals since the 1970s.
What has become known as the Judas technique involves placing VHF
radio-transmitting collars on donkeys, which are tracked via the
radio signal once a month. "Other donkeys then found with the Judas
donkey are humanely culled, leaving the Judas donkey so that it can
help locate and pinpoint other donkeys in the area," Mr Johnson
said.
"More than 270 radio collars have now been fitted across the
southern Kimberley, which means we are over the halfway mark for
the project, taking into account the total area occupied by feral
donkeys."
A pastoral station is gradually cleared of donkeys over a two to
three-year period. The station is then assessed for a non-breeding
population of donkeys after strict criteria have been met.
"The reduced grazing pressure resulting from the removal of feral
donkeys in the Kimberley has enabled pastoral business to use
greater areas of country," said Johnson.
The project is 20 per cent funded by the pastoral industry and the
majority of funding by the Agriculture Protection Board.
