The City's response to an Edith Cowan University journalism student about turtle deaths due to fox predation, 28.3.25
Question: With the recent spike of turtle deaths, confirming 361 turtles in the surrounding Cockburn lakes, can you elaborate on the city’s immediate response plan to tackle this issue of fox predation? How does the increased budget for fox control fit into this strategy?
Answer: Funding has been sought to allow for five rounds of fox control to occur on an annual basis from 2025-2026. This is more than double the amount budgeted by other Local Governments in the region, highlighting how much the City of Cockburn values the protection of biodiversity.
The increased budget will allow for additional rounds of fox control over the course of the year. The control rounds will be scheduled to occur at key periods in the fox breeding cycle when foxes are more vulnerable. Control will also occur at the end of autumn when the lakes are at their lowest levels in order to protect aestivating turtles. There will also be some money set aside for reactive control, which will occur when there are spikes in fox sightings in the City.
While feral animal control is an important conservation measure to help protect the south west snake necked turtles, the key issue is climate change and the gradual drying of the wetlands.
To this end, the City is in discussions with:
- the Department of Water and Environment Regulation,
- the Water Corporation and
- the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions to review options for supplementing the wetlands with excess stormwater.
This review will take some time to ensure that there are no adverse impacts to the environment, but if successful, has the potential to substantially support turtles.
Question: The Walliabup wildlife warriors have expressed concern that the current budget for fox control still may not be enough to protect the turtle population. How does the city of Cockburn plan to address these concerns or how have they?
Answer: Members of the Warriors submitted a motion to Council requesting a $90,000 allocation of funds towards fox control. The intention was to provide enough money to pay for fox control on a quarterly basis in reserves that sit within the Beeliar Regional Park.
In reviewing this motion, the City determined that five rounds of control could be undertaken annually over a larger area (including other conservation reserves outside of the Beeliar Regional Park). The cost of undertaking this control was also $40,000 cheaper than the Warriors’ estimate. The City’s intended budget allocation will deliver more protection to turtles than what was put forward by the motion.
Question: The $40,000 one-time contribution to the Perth South-West Metro Alliance’s fox monitoring and targeted control project, can you explain what this project entails and how it will contribute to controlling the foxes in the area?
Answer: This project is intended to monitor the effectiveness of existing control measures to identify improvements. The long term objective is to ensure that 75% of the foxes in the region are removed on an annual basis. This target was provided by feral animal control experts at the department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. It is the removal figure that has been shown to be effective in supporting local biodiversity.
The project will also ensure that fox population control is coordinated across LG and State Government Managed Land in the Perth Southwest Region. Coordinated control is more effective than separate control programs occurring in isolation.
Question: Can you explain the methods used for fox control in the Beeliar wetlands, are they humane?
Answer: The preferred method of control is soft jaw trapping. Captured foxes are then humanely euthanised.
Question: Why do you believe the increase of funding for fox control is necessary, and what specific outcomes are expected from this investment?
Answer: The City applies the principles of adaptive management in its management of conservation reserves. This approach allows for changes to management practices based on up-to-date information. The City’s view is that the increase in turtle deaths requires a more intensive management approach through fox control, nest protection and the water supplementation investigations.
The City is hopeful that the increase in control will result in increases in local biodiversity numbers. The annual fauna surveys and turtle population surveys will provide an indication if it is successful.
Question: Do you believe that the snake-necked turtles are at risk of local extinction if the level of fox predation continues?
Answer: The City of Cockburn has been deeply committed to protecting the local Southwestern Snake-Necked Turtle population for many years and continues to explore ways to enhance turtle conservation.
Our efforts have always been committed to preventing local extinction, and to provide other local governments with methods to also prevent local extinction.
If regional collaboration is not successful, including State Government collaboration, there is a real threat to the survival of the Southwestern Snake-Necked Turtle in Perth.
The City takes a multi-pronged approach to turtle conservation, including:
- Expanding fox control efforts and monitoring predation risks
- Conducting turtle research, including population studies, in partnership with Murdoch University
- Exploring potential water supplementation to expand available habitat
- Supporting citizen science programs like the Saving Our Snake-Necked Turtle (SOSNT) project and other volunteer groups
- Improving nesting habitat for turtles through revegetation
- Installing traffic control measures to reduce instances of vehicle strike.