ELECTRONIC warfare is the next secret weapon for sheep farmers in their battle against wild dog attack.
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A University of New England (Armidale) scientist and lecturer is working to develop a listening device which can identify an attack by wild dogs or foxes on stock and send an alert via mobile phone.
The Electronic Shepherd system is intended to help sheep producers catch dogs in act of attacking their sheep.
Dr Greg Falzon, who previously developed a wild dog alert system based on motion-activated camera technology, intends to produce proof-of-concept technology within the next 12 months.
"If sheep producers could reliably detect dog attacks as they are occurring or just prior to an attack, at any hour and at even the most distant locations of their property, then there could be an opportunity to thwart a dog attack," Dr Falzon said. "Early warning technology could allow woolgrowers and sheep producers to take the initiative back from the dogs and allow farmers to protect their stock
"At this stage it is very much research and development but the end goal, if it works, is a commercial product."
The principle behind Electronic Shepherd is relatively straight forward, with a listening station placed in the paddock close to the flock to monitor noise.
When a dog barks near the sheep, a smart box with a microphone and computer detects the sound, identifies and analyses it, and then sends an SMS alert with a recording of the sound to the producer along with the time and location.
As part of the research project, the accuracy of the system, false alert rate and variables such as the impact of different weather conditions will be monitored.
Dr Falzon said he had witnessed first-hand the devastation that wild dog attacks can have on stock when he lived on his family's property in the mid north coast region of New South Wales.
He said Electronic Shepherd would be less effective against foxes, which also present a menace to lambs in particular, but there were related technologies which could be used.
"Foxes are usually silent except during breeding season. This technology would pick them up at that time but it is not designed for foxes," Dr Falzon said.
"If the stock are being harassed by foxes it may pick the sound of the sheep being disturbed but that is a bit more variable.
"We do have options for targeting foxes, including smart camera tracking technology which can automatically track a fox and send a message to the producer. Our point is there are a range of technologies and this one happens to be more focused on dogs."
Dr Falzon was awarded the Australian Wool Innovation Limited Science and Innovation Award for Young People in Agriculture from Australian Wool Industries in Canberra last week for his research.
