THERE has been a huge response to the Victorian fox bounty by landowners, with 10,000 fox scalps collected in 11 weeks.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh visited Holt's Gun Shop in Colac with Member for Polwarth Terry Mulderlast week to discuss the fox bounty with hunters.
"The overwhelming response of more than 10,000 scalps in such a short time shows just how much farmers needed this bounty as a long-term control measure for wild dogs and foxes," Mr Walsh said.
"The Victorian Coalition Government's fox bounty has quickly surpassed the former Labor government's flawed FoxStop program, which only claimed about 6,000 foxes per year."
The bounty is $10 per fox and $50 per wild dog, with more than $100,000 flowing into hunters' pockets already.
"Collections resumed on Monday and I expect to see large numbers of fox scalps delivered to Department of Primary Industries sites over the next few weeks," Mr Walsh said.
Hunters need to submit an entire fox scalp, including both ears and the skin surrounding the eyes and the nose in an air-dried, fresh or frozen condition to collect the reward.
Mr Mulder said there had been a noticeable increase in spotlighting activity across the south west since the introduction of the fox bounty.
"Most farmers agree that the bounty is effective at reducing fox numbers and have welcomed the Victorian Government's introduction of the scheme," Mr Mulder said.
"There are lots of foxes around but some shooters have reported a reduction compared with the same time last year, which is being attributed to the bounty."
Mr Walsh also released a full schedule of fox bounty collection points from January through until April 2012. Hunters can view the list at www.dpi.vic.gov.au/bounty
