Landowners vital in fight against feral pigs

Media release|9 October 2025

Western Australia faces a growing threat from feral pigs, and a free upcoming workshop will help landholders rein in this destructive and expensive pest. 

Feral pigs cost Australia more than $100 million a year in animal predation and environmental damage across all kinds of landscapes. The animals aren’t just a rural problem. Their rooting and wallowing erode soil, pollute waterways, and damage riverbanks. An opportunistic omnivore, feral pigs will also hunt, kill and eat small or vulnerable animals, which only compounds the threat they pose to pets, livestock and landscapes through disease. 

Local not-for-profit Peel Harvey Biosecurity Group (PHBG) is urging private landholders to take part in coordinated control efforts to help curb the population. The group is inviting landholders to a free workshop on October 16 that will cover best-practice control techniques and practical, on-ground management.

“Pigs can breed prolifically, meaning that ad hoc shooting as a control method will not decrease the population long-term. A new approach is needed if locals want to see less impact,” said Teele Hooper-Worrell, PHBG Executive Officer. 

“Feral pigs don’t respect property boundaries. In Peel-Harvey, you can find them everywhere from the estuary to the hills. Coordinated programs where neighbours work together to trap entire mobs have been successful in reducing on-property impacts, and local landholders can access trapping options through the PHBG.”

Both state and national biosecurity guidance stress that landscape-scale coordinated control, which combines landholder effort, community collaboration, and targeted government support, delivers the best results. PHBG, one of 14 recognised Recognised Biosecurity Groups (RBGs) across WA, supports landholders in its operational area with technical advice, free equipment hire, and coordinated pest programs targeting feral pigs and other declared pests.

“Private landholders are the frontline,” said Hooper-Worrell. “Your on-property management, reporting, and participation in coordinated programs are what actually reduce pig numbers and protect our farms and natural areas.”

Landholders interested in setting up a pig trapping and control program on their property should register to attend PHBG’s workshop “Targeting feral pigs: from behaviour to best practice control” on Thursday, October 16. Register via their website at www.PHBG.org/events.

ENDS

Media enquiries: media@phbg.org