2026/07/30 by Zali Jestrimski, Lily M. van Eeden, Mathew S. Crowther +2
paper · doi:10.1071/wr26040
Context Goats (Capra hircus) were introduced to Australia by early European settlers and have established feral populations that cause ecological, agricultural and economic damage. Contrastingly, landholders in some areas rely on income from harvesting free-ranging goats. Aside from these areas, reducing goat damage is a management priority in much of Australia, but effective control remains challenging. Dingoes (Canis dingo) are the largest native mammalian land predator in Australia and may reduce the population densities and distributions of feral goats, directly through predation, or indirectly by suppressing goat activity or habitat use. However, the effects of dingoes on feral goats are not well documented over time or over large spatial scales. Aims We use a mixed-methods approach to explore how the re-establishment of dingoes in a pastoral region in the southern rangelands of Western Australia may have affected the feral goat population. Methods Fluctuations in feral goat population size from 1987 to 2024 were documented using estimates for years when estimates were reported. Written records and local ecological knowledge were used to inform other years. This timeline was compared against a timeline of dingo re-establishment and covariates including annual rainfall, goat prices and goat control figures by using interrupted time series analysis. Key results A structural shift in goat population trajectory occurred in the mid-2000s, with a sustained and significant post-2005 decline. This shift coincided with the period of dingo re-establishment and was not explained by linear time trends. Goat control, goat prices and annual rainfall were not linked to the sustained drop in estimated population size of feral goats. Conclusions Since the natural re-colonisation of dingoes in the early 2000s, feral goat populations declined and are considered rare in the study region today. Implications This research suggests that the presence of dingoes is likely to assist feral goat control efforts. Reduced goat populations should be beneficial for biodiversity and ecosystem health and pasture availability for other livestock in the southern rangelands of Western Australia, and in Australian rangelands more broadly.