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Animal Pest Management Services (APMS) first commenced business in 1999.

Through experience, innovation and the development of industry leading technical skills, APMS has grown into the largest vertebrate pest control company in Australia.

APMS conducts operations throughout Australia and has established offices in Bunbury, Perth, South Australia and Victoria (Geelong). We also provide our specialist services to other States, including Queensland, NSW and the Northern Territory.

With over 35 years’ professional experience in managing pest animals and having spent 18 years with the Agriculture Protection Board (APB) and Department of Agriculture (now DAFWA), Managing Director Mike Butcher has previously held positions as –

Regional Officer, APB
Regional Protection Manager (DAFWA)
State project manager – foxes and feral pigs, kangaroos, feral camels (DAFWA)
Government Firearms Instructor – (APB and DAFWA)
Qualifications include Diploma of Pest Management, Cert IV Training and Assessment, Cert IV Small Business Management, Certificate III in Vertebrate Pest Management, Certificate in Agriculture Protection (1200 hrs study on pest species) and Advanced Diploma in Agriculture

Unlike other vertebrate pest control firms who have only basic training (which only includes use of pesticides for insects and weeds, modifying environments and working safely in industry) we have decades of full time professional experience. Weekend shooting for sport doesn’t count much as “years” of experience!

During the past 17 years, APMS has baited hundreds of farms for rabbits, trapped thousands of feral cats and foxes, trapped hundreds of wild dogs and laid many thousands of wild dog and fox baits using every type of bait that is manufactured in Australia (Dried Meat Baits are our preferred bait) and over the years burnt out lots of rifle barrels.

All APMS operational staff are fully trained and also complete at least 15 Nationally Accredited Units of Competency with the Certificate III in Vertebrate Pest Management an essential part of the training APMS staff complete. Operations staff are members of the Vertebrate Pest Managers Association (WA) Inc. and senior staff are members of the National Trappers Association (USA) and regularly travel to the US to check on the latest trapping methods and equipment. Our senior staff are trained to relevant Diploma level with a minimum of 100 projects completed to high standards.

As the trainer of other vertebrate pest operators, APMS sets the standard for the industry in best practice vertebrate pest control. We understand the need to keep technically and scientifically up to date. There wouldn’t be a research paper published in the past 30 years in Australia on foxes, feral cats, rabbits, feral pigs, wild dogs/dingoes, 1080, strychnine or pindone that we haven’t read and used to adapt our operations to continuously be at the forefront of industry. We have trained all of the people to become professionals in industry and gain their licenses in the past 3 years in WA, so we are the most knowledgeable in the current practices, research and operational methods.

Today, APMS has eight full-time staff in its four offices and has a considerable amount of resources for all the expected and unexpected tasks we are requested to perform from surveying native fauna through to large scale feral cat, wild dog and fox control programs for the protection of endangered native fauna in the deserts through to the beach.

We have considerable experience from dealing with urban feral animals right through to aerial culling or surveying of feral pigs, donkeys, camels and buffalo, working in the remotest areas of Australia and everything in between. As we regularly deal with high risk, potentially high profile problems on a daily basis, you can be assured that we can deal with your particular problem promptly and discretely. With our experience of dealing with problems from a property as small as your backyard through to managing issues on a district, regional and state-wide perspective, APMS is able to develop management outcomes that fit with your particular invasive vertebrate pest issue based on science, experience and innovation. We keep up to date technically and scientifically through attending National and International seminars and conventions (such as the Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference – which we have attended since 1998) and through various scientific journals.

With clients including the federal government, State and local government and the largest mining companies in the world, you can expect our Health, Safety and Environmental policies and procedures to be what is also expected from our world leading clients. Our Health, Safety and Environmental Plans and procedures have been approved by the largest Mining Companies including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Alcoa.

We guarantee our operational work such as shooting, trapping and baiting programs. Programs are designed to achieve specific outcomes and are outcomes based, not just budget based. We achieve the outcome you want on budget, within specification and on time. For example, we don’t quote on “trapping foxes”, we quote on getting all the foxes! With previous programs including the reduction in fox predation at Gnaraloo Station on Loggerhead Turtles from 80-100% to zero for five consecutive years, as well as fox predation on turtle nests at Pretty Pool, Port Hedland from 88% at the beginning to achieving zero predation for the past 7 years, our successful programs are considered World Class.

All operations staff are licensed to conduct operational programs as per the relevant States legislation and we have comprehensive $20 million public liability as well as professional indemnity insurance.

APMS has developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) for all of our work from use of baits, trapping programs, through to aerial culling operations which are used to ensure our programs meet and exceed clients expectations.

Our company resources include –

Ability to undertake programs from your suburban backyard through to remote desert country

10 four wheel drive vehicles (4 mine site equipped)

120 + cat traps (cage)

100 + fox traps

100 + wild dog traps

12 cage traps (fox and dog)

Possum/small marsupial cage traps

Elliott Traps (fauna monitoring etc.)

Radio tracking collars

Remote wildlife monitoring cameras

Remote area equipment (camping, sat phones, EPIRB’s, remote equipped vehicles etc)

Wide range of firearms from .177 air rifles through to large calibres, e.g. 375 H&H (ground and aerial culling)

GPS and GIS data management and mapping capability.

Night Vision Gear (including goggles, night scopes and Heat sensory equipment)