Impacts of pest animals in reducing agricultural productivity, amenity of urban areas and increasing environmental damage to biodiversity cost Australia some $1 billion each year.

To address this national challenge, the Invasive Animals CRC has embarked on a new $72 million 26-partner research collaboration, with Commonwealth CRC Program and other Participant funding to 2017.

Andreas Glanznig - CEO of the Invasive Animals CRC said that swelling rabbit numbers due to increased food availability and Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD) resistance, expanding carp populations post-floods and increasing livestock losses to wild dogs and pigs are key research targets for the next five years of research by the Invasive Animals CRC.

"Our new research projects started full-steam ahead on 1 July this year with key priorities being the finalisation of scientific evaluation of Australia's first carp biocontrol agent koi herpesvirus and evaluating a new virus strain to boost the performance of rabbit calicivirus or RHD," Mr Glanznig said. "The Invasive Animals CRC has five key outcomes by 2017 to achieve:

(1) no new vertebrate pests established in Australia - through developing a national incursions response system, eg detecting new pest fish incursions, particularly tilapia, using new environmental DNA techniques; and research underpinning an optimal strategy to eradicate foxes from Tasmania.

(2) prediction and control of emerging outbreaks - research underpinning strategic forecasting and planning to enable pre-emptive invasive animal management in priority regions.

(3) landscape-scale recovery of key land and water regions, after humane control of rabbits, carp and wild dogs. For example, improved strategies for the management of wild dogs in peri/semi-urban environments through collection of ecological information on wild dogs and implementation of current and new control technologies.

Plus investigating the relationships between native and introduced predators (wild dogs, foxes and cats) in Eastern Australia in order to improve management of these pests to limit impacts on biodiversity, primar production and domestic pets.

(4) new social networks and institutions for better community engagement to control pest animals, for instance stronger community involvement in citizen science mapping, such as FeralScan; ongoing research to enable improved strategic wild dog management in sheep and cattle regions of Australia; and improved agricultural productivity from accelerated adoption of pest animal control strategies and technologies.

(5) an enduring entity for research, training and support of pest animal control across Australia. Mr Glanznig said that new more humane products, currently in the regulatory pipeline, such as new wild dog, fox and feral pig baits and delivery systems are expected to be commercially released in the year ahead.

Mr Glanznig said the ultimate objective is to ensure Australia's farmers and land managers are not exposed to the risk of having inadequate technologies against pest animals to protect our biodiversity assets and long-term food security. Our research information is readily available through the PestSmart Toolkit suite of communications products at www.feral.org.au/pestsmart.

The investors (Participants) in the Invasive Animals CRC represent small medium enterprises, Research & Development Corporations, State Government and federal agencies; universities and international collaborators in the United States, England and New Zealand. See the full list of Participants at http://www.invasiveanimals.com/about-us/participants/