Rangers build aerial shooting skills to protect turtles

Indigenous rangers from western Cape York have completed mentored aerial shooting aimed at reducing feral pig predation on turtle eggs and nesting sites.

The mentoring was delivered in September by Seymour Out Bush, an organisation specialising in remote area feral animal control and training.

Flights were carried out across Kowanyama, Old Mapoon, Napranum and the Northern Peninsula Area, supporting rangers working as part of the Western Cape Turtle Threat Abatement Alliance (WCTTAA).

Across 12 flights, rangers culled more than 800 feral pigs from key coastal and wetland areas where pig activity poses a serious threat to turtle nesting sites. Rangers from Kowanyama Land and Sea Rangers, Pormpuraaw Rangers, Mapoon Land and Sea Rangers, and Napranum’s Nanum Wungthim Land and Sea Rangers took part.

The training also involves rangers being mentored in on-ground shooting and in using firearms to humanely destroy animals.

Trainer and shooter Mark Lane said the mentored flights were designed specifically for Indigenous ranger teams and focused on practical learning.

“We go out to the ranger groups and conduct the training on Country,” Mr Lane said.

“Sometimes that means it takes a little longer, but there’s much more value because it’s relevant to their Country and the challenges the rangers are dealing with.”

The timing of the mentoring was deliberate, coinciding with turtle nesting season, when feral pigs pose a significant threat by preying on turtle eggs and nests.

WCTTAA is a partnership of Indigenous land and sea owners and managers from Apudthama Land Trust and the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council, Napranum Aboriginal Shire Council, Mapoon, Pormpuraaw, Aak Puul Ngantam Cape York, and Kowanyama. 

Sustained efforts by WCTTAA have reduced nest predation to sustainable levels on many western Cape York beaches. This work includes monitoring nesting sites and hatchling success, controlling feral pigs through aerial and ground operations, and protecting nests with aluminium cages.

This project is supported by Cape York NRM through funding from the Australian and Queensland Governments' Nest to Ocean Turtle Protection Program, and Rio Tinto's Western Cape Community Development Fund.

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