A two-month search for a fugitive fox on Phillip Island has ended with the trapping and euthanasing of the pest.
A spokesman for Phillip Island Nature Parks, Stuart Murphy, said the fox was found trapped on the weekend.
"The fox was successfully trapped and humanely euthanased. It was a great result," he said.
He said extensive monitoring of the fox over two months had led to the result, but it was not yet known how much damage the predator had done.
"We don't know exactly but we'll be doing a full autopsy on the fox to look at stomach contents," he said.
Authorities were first alerted to the fox when it killed more than 20 chickens in early May, ending the island's five-year fox-free status.
Phillip Island was declared fox-free in 2017 after 25 years of extensive eradication programs by Phillip Island Nature Parks and local conservation groups.
Scats of the fox were tracked by detection dog Jazz, which led to the discovery of the fox on the Island's southern coastline.
Mr Murphy said Jazz, an English springer spaniel, was an important member of the team.
"When she finds a fox scat she'll indicate and the dog handler will confirm that the dog handler has found the target, and she'll get a tennis ball thrown. That's the reward for doing her job.
"She can show us evidence of foxes that'd be almost invisible to the rest of us."
