Fox trapping at Pottsville from next week

15 November 2019

Foxes pose threat to wildlife, pets and livestock

Recent surveys and monitoring have found the bushland in and around Pottsville to be fox hot-spot areas and trapping will commence soon to reduce the population.

Specially-trained detector dogs were used to survey areas where foxes are in high numbers and to locate their dens. The surveys, along with remote camera monitoring, have found an alarming amount of fox activity in the area.

Soft-jaw trapping for foxes will be undertaken on the Tweed Coast Regional Crown Reserve to the north of Cudgera Ave (on the western side of Tweed Coast Road), and to the north of Elfran Ave (on the eastern side of Tweed Coast Road) Pottsville from 18 to 27 November 2019. Dates could be extended if the target number of foxes trapped is not reached.

The soft-jaw traps will be camouflaged and will not be visible to the naked eye and to protect public safety, access to trapping sites is prohibited. Soft-jaw traps have coil springs that hold animals once trapped.

A highly-experienced specialist contractor has been engaged to undertake the trapping with the primary purpose to target foxes before their breeding season starts and to reduce the overall fox population at Pottsville. It is hoped that the trapping program will:

• protect the local bush stone-curlew population and other ground-nesting birds, particularly protecting eggs and chicks,

• reduce fox predation on other threatened species like the black bittern, green turtles and common planigale, and

• minimise threats to the Tweed Coast koala population, particularly juvenile and young dispersing koalas.

Council’s Program Leader Pest Management Wildlife Protection, Pamela Gray said it is critical that the community heeds the warnings and look out for signage.

“Signage will be installed at all entrances to the trapping site and if the signage is still in place, the trapping is still ongoing,” Ms Gray said.

“Please ensure that you and your pets do not enter these areas. If any domestic pets are caught in traps they will be taken to the Tweed Pound.

“Foxes pose a significant threat to native wildlife, domestic pets and livestock which is why we need to do this important activity,” she said.

For more information on how to protect pets, livestock and information on fox control, visit http://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Foxes

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Caption: Access to fox trapping sites is prohibited and areas will be marked by warning signs.