A dynamic team featuring man and his best friends is helping track down one of the biggest threats to nesting marine turtles along the region’s coastline – foxes.
Tom Garrett and his conservation dogs Cooper and Wally have been putting their best foot and paws forward to sniff out the pest animal.
It’s part of an annual partnership between Bundaberg Regional Council, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Bundaberg Sugar Ltd, Burnett Mary Regional Group.
The annual Fox Den Detection Program helps protect marine turtles, including the endangered loggerhead turtle, which return to the Bundaberg coastline each year to nest.
Tom said that while the turtles may be focused on making their way back to the beach, foxes are waiting for an opportunity to raid their eggs.
He said the importance of the program was backed by research highlighting the significant impact fox predation could have on native wildlife.
“There was a study done in 2022 to define the damage caused through predation,” Tom said.
“The results found that there are an estimated 1.7 million foxes in Australia that have cause 300 million deaths of animals.”
Team work to tackle fox problem
Along the coastline Tom said foxes used hidden dens as a base to target turtle nesting areas.
“This year we have focused our efforts mainly on the southern side of the river – I have been as far as Elliott Heads, through to Bargara and the conservation parks and Mon Repos,” he said.
“Foxes generally will return to the same denning sites every year and so do the offspring.
“It’s a learned behaviour.”
With Tom leading the pack, Cooper and Wally assist in the search by using their powerful noses to detect the scent of foxes, fur and scat.
“The dogs themselves are trained through identification of different scents,” Tom said.
“We have trained these particular dogs on fox, cat and koala scat.
“Springer spaniels have a very good work ethic, they have a great nose and they really enjoy what they do.
“They love it- it’s something that pleases them and it’s in their nature.”
Once they have located a scent trail, the dogs lead their handler directly to an active den, indicating the location by sitting or lying near the entrance.
Landowners urged to report foxes
Foxes are a restricted invasive animal under the Biosecurity Act 2014.
They were introduced to Australia from England in the 1860s as a sport animal and are now widespread throughout the Bundaberg Region, preying on not only turtles but other native animals.
While Tom, Cooper and Wally cover good ground in their fight to help protect the turtle population and assist Bundaberg Regional Council with a major pest problem, they cannot do it alone.
Landowners along the Woongarra coastline are being asked to help protect endangered marine turtles by reporting any fox dens or fox sightings on their properties by emailing parksadministration@bundaberg.qld.gov.au
Find out more about pest animals of the region here.
