Introduced and pest animals

Introduced, pest and feral animals

Established pest or feral animals are introduced animals that severely impact our environment, economy and social amenity.

Our biosecurity division maintains the productivity of our primary industries, protects our natural environments and sustains the health and wellbeing of our communities.

About introduced and pest animals

Pests cost Australian agriculture billions of dollars each year. Pest animals:

  • compete with crops, pasture, livestock and native flora and fauna
  • contaminate crops and seeds
  • carry and spread disease
  • degrade our production resource
  • reduce the value of the natural environment
  • cause health problems.

All introduced animals, and dingos and dingo hybrids, are known as declared animals.

There are restrictions if you want to keep, move, sell or release some of these declared animals.

There are also requirements for the control and destruction for many of these animals.

Alert pest animals are introduced animals that are a serious threat, but have little or no impact because they:

  • have not yet arrived in South Australia
  • may only be here in very low numbers
  • are held in captivity.

All South Australian landholders have a legal responsibility to manage and control animals, declared under the Act, that occur on their land.

The list of declared animals and plants in South Australia (PDF 605.7 KB or DOCX 205.6 KB) explains the restrictions imposed for different species.

Invasive Species Unit

PIRSA's Invasive Species Unit and Landscape boards support landholders in their programs to manage pest animals, and to prevent new ones establishing populations.

Staff provide policy and technical advice, support enforcement activities, and undertake research on new tools to manage and control established pests.

More information

Landscape South Australia Act 2019

Get in contact

State policy advice

Contact the Invasive Species Unit for state policy advice.

Phone: (08) 8429 0823 PIRSA.InvasiveSpecies@sa.gov.au

Regional control advice

Contact Landscape South Australia for regional control advice.

National Pest Alert Hotline (Freecall): 1800 084 881
Page last reviewed: 24 Feb 2022

 


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