THERE'S a new weapon in the fight against feral pigs in Southern Queensland and it's coming by way of ground- breaking research from Warwick man Darren Marshall.

Also an auxiliary firefighter in the Rose City, Mr Marshall works in feral animal research, control and monitoring for the Queensland Murray Darling Committee.

With a background in applied science, majoring in natural resource management through Southern Cross University, Mr Marshall spent years working closely with landowners searching for answers to their feral pig problems.

"I worked with groups of 10 to 12 landholders at a time, but not all within the group had tackling the feral animal problem as a priority," he said.

"So we needed to find another approach.

"That's how this new direction came about."

Over the past 12 months Mr Marshall, along with a few committed landholders, has been trapping and attaching GPS collars to feral pigs at several sites in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.

"This allows us to track the movements of the pigs in real time," he said.

"Every 30 minutes the collars register a waypoint and every six hours those points are transmitted to the satellite and I can track their movements on my computer.

"The main thing this information does is allow us to see the habits of the animal and also to dispel a number of myths that landowners have."

Mr Marshall said a common misconception was that landholders believed the pigs travelled long distances.

"In reality, if the conditions are good in the region, they'll stay put," he said.

"They don't necessarily live in the national parks and they're not travelling 30 to 40kms of a night. If there's food and water and they feel safe, they'll settle in one area."

Mr Marshall said the whole process hinged on the partnership with enthusiastic landholders.

"They are right there, in the thick of it from the very start of the process," he said.

"From the trapping and collaring to updates on movements.

"It's all about asking them what they need, what they want, including them throughout the whole process and they'll then want to see it all through to a conclusion."

Mr Marshall said the solution to controlling wild pigs was a co-ordinated effort.

"Some farmers bring hunters in and think they're doing their bit," he said.

"But the reality is, if you're not knocking out at least 70percent of the local feral pig population, then you're not having an impact.

"These animals are the most prolific breeding large mammal on earth, so control takes co-ordination between hunters, baiting, trapping and aerial shooting, in order to effectively wipe out a localised population."

After recent exposure on ABC's Landline, Mr Marshall said he had gone from four research sites to eight as people put their hands up to be involved.

"All of the research is being done through a PhD, through the University of New England," he said.

"Hopefully what we're achieving here, getting landholders to work together, could become part of a solution to the problem."

See the QMDC Facebook page for more information, as well as Mr Marshall's Landline feature.