Western Shield, the Department's leading nature conservation program, is safeguarding Western Australia's native animals. Launched in 1996, it is now the biggest wildlife conservation program ever undertaken in Australia.

Western Shield, winner of the prestigious national Banksia Award for fauna conservation in 1998, is working to bring at least 13 native fauna species back from the brink of extinction by controlling introduced predators, the fox and feral cat.

Introduced predators have been making a meal of Western Australia's wildlife, contributing to the extinction of 10 species of native mammal, and forcing dozens more to fight for survival.

The main weapon in the fight against the fox and feral cat is use of the naturally occurring poison 1080, found in native plants called gastrolobiums or 'poison peas'. While our native animals have evolved with these plants and have a high tolerance to the poison, introduced animals do not.

Western Shield makes use of this natural advantage.

In the southwest forests, scientific research and monitoring has shown that where baiting has reduced fox numbers, there has been a dramatic increase in native animal numbers. Trap success rates for medium-sized mammals in the jarrah forest of Kingston Block, near Manjimup, reflect a seven-fold increase since baiting began in 1993.

The key to this success - predator control through baiting. Western Shield involves aerial and hand baiting on almost 3.5 million hectares of Department-managed land. Baiting operations take place four times a year throughout the State from as far north as Karratha to Esperance in the south. Smaller nature reserves are baited more frequently.

Downloads:

• Western Shield Action Pack - a unit of work on threatened species for middle school