Culling farm wildlife for conservation and production on “Koobabbie”, a cereal and sheep growing property, in the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia

Abstract

Koobabbie is a 7,173-ha cereal and sheep growing property in the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia. Unlike most wheatbelt properties that have been extensively cleared of native vegetation, Koobabbie retains 41% of its area under native vegetation. It is listed as an important bird area by BirdLife Australia and BirdLife International, and is a significant part of the region’s conservation estate. Half of Australia’s cockatoo species occur on the property, including the endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris. The Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo Cacatua leadbeateri occurs in small numbers on the property, while the Galah C. roseicapilla and Western Corella C. pastinator occur in large numbers, and compete with Carnaby’s Cockatoo and Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo for nest hollows.The owners have been culling Galah and Western Corella since 1997 to reduce competition for nest hollows. In addition, several other species of native animal, and three species of introduced mammal are culled, also for conservation and economic production purposes. This paper reports on the culling, and concludes it is an appropriate part of farm management for conservation and economic production objectives.