FIVE scats featured in official fox evidence records were shown to belong to completely different animals in 2009, but the items remain listed as "physical evidence of fox activity in Tasmania" by the government to this day.
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A draft government report from 2009, made public under Right to Information laws this month, shows Fox Eradication Program officials were advised that the scats actually belonged to birds, a wallaby and a snake.
But the government kept the anomalous items on record and they are still touted as evidence on the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment's website.
It is understood the false scats were also part of the Labor government's official evidence listing when it received its last round of federal government funding for fox eradication in 2013, worth almost $2 million.
For unknown reasons, the five scats tested positive for fox DNA, despite them not belonging to the species.
The anomalous items are part of a collection of 61 scats that remain stored with the rest of the state’s fox evidence at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston.
The revelation comes as Tasmania Police continues its preliminary probe into allegations of evidence tampering in the former government body.
The Fox Eradication Program received about $50 million in funding during its 13-year existence.
The 2009 report, written by former DPIPWE scientist Simon Fearn, reveals a long list of scientific anomalies.
His notes raise concerns about a bird pellet in the collection which was found on a 1.2-metre-high fence post.
"The resemblance to a corvid pellet is obvious," Mr Fearn wrote.
Also of particular note to Mr Fearn were two fox positive scats collected in the state's North-West in 2008.
The scats contained identical pieces of sponge foam rubber and were found 80 kilometres apart and six months apart.
The wallaby scat found with fox DNA was "100 per cent finely masticated grass" and two wallaby hairs, Mr Fearn wrote.
Several of the other fox positive scats collected contained fox hairs - a characteristic often associated with foxes raised in captivity.
Mr Fearn - who left the program in 2012 - also noted a distinct lack of insects in some of the scats found.
Insects are a common component in the diet of wild foxes, he noted.
Mr Fearn declined to comment on the report when questioned last week.
It is understood Tasmania Police is aware of the anomalies raised in the report.
During the Fox Eradication Program's existence, fox scats were detected using dogs.
These scats were then sent to the mainland for DNA testing.
About 10,000 scats were tested once using a single DNA testing method that created a likelihood of some tests returning a "false positive" result.
Members of Tasmania’s science fraternity have long expressed concerns about the storage and testing methods used by the program, stating there was a high risk of “environmental contamination or fraud”.
A DPIPWE spokesman said: "The department is aware that there will always be debate, discussion and differing views about the veracity of testing methods and results - especially in the field of DNA testing.
"The department notes that Tasmania Police have been asked to investigate a number of matters in relation to the former Fox Eradication Program and will wait until that is complete before commenting further."
Labor MP David Llewellyn, who was Primary Industries Minister when the program was created, said "there may have been some misidentification but there is also undoubtedly a lot of evidence with scats".
"The Right to Information document contains a large number of excellent fox sightings," he said.
In February, Windermere Independent MLC Ivan Dean handed over a 150-page report to Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine.
According to Mr Dean, the report contains testimony from several former Fox Eradication Program members and insider information which support the allegations.
Suggestions about the legitimacy of the Fox Eradication Program have long persisted and the debate about whether foxes actually exist in Tasmania came to a head in April when police announced they would consider a full scale investigation into Mr Dean's claims.
The Fox Eradication Program was launched in 2001, under the name the Fox Taskforce, following reports that multiple litters were smuggled into the state, hand-raised and strategically released.
A subsequent police investigation into the theory – led by then-Tasmania Police Northern Commander Mr Dean – found the reports were uncorroborated.
Despite this, government officials continued to quote the theory in the media and the taskforce persisted.
Between 2001 and 2011, the taskforce found multiple fox carcasses, scats and other DNA on the island, prompting the continuation of federal government funding.
The program was disbanded in 2014.
As of November last year, the government was still employing five fox detection staff and continues to receive close to $500,000 each year to continue its search.
In March, QVMAG said: “Concerns by external parties about (the fox collection’s) provenance has caused us to reconsider what this collection represents.
“This material has been extracted from the collection storage areas and rehoused until the provenance is clarified.”
Fox sightings in Tasmania continue to be reported.
- cclarke@fairfaxmedia.com.au
