How much does it cost to kill a rabbit? More than $7100, if you are the NSW government, whose controversial hunting in national parks program has garnered ridicule from across the political spectrum.
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Official figures show the government's so-called "pest control" trial, which began earlier this year, has killed fewer than 200 animals at a cost of $1.416 million.
The bill to taxpayers has cast serious doubt on the cost-effectiveness of the amateur hunting program, which was introduced after former premier Barry O'Farrell struck a deal with the Shooters and Fishers Party.
Some 198 animals, almost 70 per cent of them rabbits, were killed over five operations between February and August. It equates to $7152 for each animal. The government says most spending involved set-up costs.
Other animals killed included goats, pigs, deer and foxes. The operations involved 43 National Parks and Wildlife Service staff shifts.
Twelve parks are open to the program, which allows volunteer hunters to shoot animals in an area covering 485,000 hectares.
Not a single animal was killed over two weekend operations at Woomargama National Park and the Goonoo State Conservation Area, despite up to seven staff being rostered on each day.
Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi said the program was established to "placate the Shooters and Fishers Party" and NPWS staff were "babysitting amateur shooters at extraordinary cost to the taxpayer".
"This government needs to stop pouring money into ineffective and wasteful programs and direct it into scientifically proven programs carried out by professionals," she said.
The government agreed to hunting in national parks to win the support of Shooters Party MPs Robert Borsak and Robert Brown for electricity privatisation laws.
However, relations later frayed after Mr O'Farrell's decision to abolish the Game Council and restrict the access of hunters to national parks.
Mr Brown described the money spent on the trial as "disgraceful". He said more national parks should be opened to licensed shooters, and the hunts should be unsupervised, claiming more animals could then be killed for a lower cost.
"I don't mean to be disrespectful to the National Parks and Wildlife rangers, but experienced hunters don't need toilet cleaners showing them how to hunt," he said.
A spokesman for the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage said establishment costs comprised most of the spending, including the development of "procedures and protocols".
He said ground shooting was required for a small number of "trap-shy or bait-shy animals" that were resistant to other pest management techniques.
"However, the strategic benefit of removing individuals from an already reduced population is extremely valuable," the spokesman said.
"Any pest animals removed in these reserves as part of the … trial will be vitally significant in ensuring that the pest populations do not increase and remain at these low levels".
About 26 qualified shooters have so far taken part in the program and a further 518 people have "formally expressed interest", the spokesman said.
