Wheatbelt farmers warn dingoes will ‘wreak havoc’ on sheep after dog culls stopped

West Australian livestock farmers have warned of dire consequences for the state’s sheep flock after Indigenous groups and a government department moved to protect dingoes on Wheatbelt land due to their cultural significance.

In an email sent to its members, the Central Wheatbelt Biosecurity Association (CWBA) said permits which had allowed it to bait and trap dingoes across 340,000 hectares of reserve land in the Dalwallinu, Morawa and Perenjori shires had not been renewed, and that dog control must stop from today.

The parcels of land where the dogs were protected were inside the State Barrier fence, a 1,400 kilometre vermin-proof fence which stretches from Kalbarri to Esperance. Most of WA’s sheep flock, worth $1 billion, is also located inside the fence.

The CWBA said the decision to stop the cull came from the Yamatji Nation Joint Management Body, a sub group of the Yamatji Southern Regional Corporation which jointly manages conservation land with the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). CWBA chair Chris Patmore said livestock would suffer as a result.

DBCA refused the ABC’s request for an interview but provided a statement saying dingoes had significant cultural importance to the Yamatji traditional owners and that it had “a legislative responsibility to recognise and respect these values in its management practices”.

Wild dogs, or dingoes, are a declared pest in Western Australia under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (BAM) Act 2007, but are also listed as a protected native fauna under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. All landholders and land managers are obliged to control declared pests on their land. However, groups including the Greens and the Animal Justice Party want better dingo protection.