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Predators : Lamb Killers Or Scavengers, Stanley M. Dennis, C. D. Gooding

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

PREDATORS, particularly foxes and crows, have long been considered by many farmers in Western Australia to be a serious cause of lamb losses during the first week of life.

Results of the post-mortem examination of 2,179 lambs carried out by the Animal Health Laboratory over the past two years, however, throws considerable doubt on this belief.

These examinations revealed that 34 per cent, of the lambs showed mutilation by predators but only about 2 per cent, actually died as a result of predator attacks.