Experts say monitoring feral pig movement is just as important as shooting, baiting and poisoning them, and was integral to controlling populations.
Southern Queensland Landscapes' Vertebrate Pest and Wildlife Management officer Darren Marshall said the main reason monitoring was so important was that to have any effect on the pig population, 70 per cent of it needed to be taken out in one hit.
"So many land managers do feral animal control and so many land managers don't know how many ferals they're knocking down," he said.
"If you don't know what percentage you are taking out, it makes it difficult to measure if your current pig management strategies are working.
"Otherwise people are putting in a whole lot of effort and you can't measure whether you're actually having an impact on the population."
New thermal monitoring technology has been put the test in work SQ Landscapes is doing with the Western Downs Regional Council and Biosecurity Queensland, comparing it with traditional monitoring methods like camera monitoring and aerial surveys.
"What's exciting for us is that we are comparing the methods of monitoring," Mr Marshall said.
"This is the first time we have compared three monitoring methods in one geographical area.
"This way we can compare and contrast the benefits of each method and see which method is most effective in the landscape.
"It's a really good project that puts to use many different technologies to help the land manager improve their feral pig control effectiveness," he said.
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Mr Marshall said the thermal surveying was far more accurate than other monitoring methods, using an ultra high definition video camera fitted with a thermal imager to detect and record the presence of the pests in real time.
"The thermal imaging technology detects heat - so it allows us to see the pigs when they might be hiding or in areas of thick vegetation," he said.
"The thermal camera can even be used in conjunction with aerial shooting, helping to increase the effectiveness of control programs.
"It shows us where the pigs are hiding, which is especially important with aerial shooting because they can get spooked by the helicopter."
Biosecurity Queensland principal scientist Matthew Gentle said they were committed to investigating ways to improve pest animal management.
"Being a pest animal research organisation, we are invested in improving feral pest management within Queensland," he said.
"Without the monitoring, you won't be able to understand if the control measures were effective.
"Testing something like thermal detection can also help us to correct our visual detection.
"When we do visual monitoring we can sometimes miss pigs, so we can use the thermal camera monitoring to help enhance visual surveying.
"We're also looking to investigate feral pig behavioural changes after aerial shooting, particularly looking at the behaviour of the survivors.
"Ultimately, we're looking to reduce the impact of pests to the environment, to livestock and to people."
The results of the thermal surveys will be compared with other monitoring methods after a coordinated control program takes place later in the year.
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