Industry and Investment NSW (I&I NSW) researcher Lynette McLeod said the large-scale study in central western NSW took advantage of existing fox control programs to explore the benefits of group baiting using 1080.

“The participation of close neighbours, those up to 2.5km away, was shown to be a key factor in lamb survival,” Ms McLeod said.

“Lamb survival improved as more neighbouring properties joined the group baiting program. The timing and frequency of baiting were also important factors influencing lamb survival.”

Ms McLeod also said lamb survival was higher in areas where fox baiting was carried out twice a year, in autumn and late winter or early spring.

“Targeted control activities, when fox populations are most vulnerable, can add value to current management programs,” she said.

“Baiting in late winter or early spring period interrupts the foxes breeding period while baiting in autumn catches young foxes as they move to new territories.

“Our results support a strategy of high-level group participation across local landscapes and highlight the importance of timing and frequency of baiting to maximise the effect.”

Group baiting also has a biodiversity benefit as effective fox management helps protect native wildlife from fox predation. The study, covering an area of more than 4.5 million hectares and 20pc of the NSW sheep flock, used novel approaches to obtain reliable data.

“An incentive scheme where all respondents were entered in a prize draw to win agricultural supplies delivered input from 1034 individual properties across region, which contributed to the statistical power of our results,” Ms McLeod said.

The study was funded Natural Heritage Trusts’ National Feral Animal Control Program