MORE than one in five baits laid in the first months of a planned three-year statewide poison attack on foxes have disappeared, but it remains unclear what's taking the bait.
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Early results from the fox baiting program show 462 baits out of the 2038 laid across 41,000 hectares of core fox habitat in the South have been taken.
No fox carcasses have been found since the baits were laid in May.
A new baiting front is expected to start from the North- West early next year.
Critics have called for closer monitoring to determine what animals are taking the baits and their impact.
The Fox Eradication Program buries dried or processed meat contaminated with the poison 1080, a method they say attracts foxes but is less desirable to native animals.
But veterinarian David Obendorf said he feared the dose used would be enough to kill eastern quolls and bandicoots.
The results were revealed in answers provided by Environment Minister Brian Wightman to questions posed by Windermere independent Ivan Dean earlier this year.
"More than one in five baits were taken and they can't tell us what's taken them and the reason for that is they don't want to," Mr Dean said.
But Mr Wightman said assessing bait take was problematic.
He said Mr Dean "cannot honestly expect that it is either an efficient nor effective use of taxpayers' money to purchase, place, service and review the hundreds of cameras it would take to cover each bait station to answer this question".