Two years after the bounty was scrapped, the state government has re-introduced a $120 wild dogs bounty in control zones in northern Victoria and Gippsland.

Ms Pulford said the Wild Dog Management Advisory Committee would evaluate the plan after 12 months. 

The Department of Water, Land and Planning’s Scott McLean said the bounty area covered Wyperfeld National Park and Big Desert – the Wimmera’s main wild dog problem area. 

Mr McLean, the senior forest management and roading officer for the Wimmera, said the scheme would not necessarily have a huge affect on wild dog numbers but it would benefit farmers. 

“Because the area is so heavily vegetated the only opportunity you have during daylight is if you happen across a dog,” he said.

“It’s so remote and they’re so hard to get to that it’s really hard to say what impact the bounty might have.

“It does help the landowners who, after a dog attack, take the time to go around their stock at night and prevent attacks.

“It costs money to drive around and watch, so getting anything back would help. That’s where the bounty will help.”

Mr McLean said farmers often lost stock, especially during lambing time. 

He said in the past few years the department had set about 235 kilometres of bait in the area.

Mr McLean said the bounty would not benefits farmers using bait as the animals often ran back into vegetation before dying. The government said wild dogs cost the state’s livestock industry $18 million annually. 

Ms Pulford said the state had also introduced a $10 fox bounty. “Farmers and landholders tell us time after time that foxes and wild dogs are a huge issue for them,” she said.

Nationals leader Peter Walsh said the government had spent two years playing politics and welcomed the black-flip.