More wallaby deaths

BY GEMMA REDDELL

Dead Wallabies continue to be found on Kawau Island, although it’s illegal to poison them.

Resident Rachel Rush says she is still finding wallabies she believes have been poisoned, and is concerned that people may be using poisons illegally.

Only the poison 1080 is allowed for use in killing wallabies, and a special licence is needed to use it.

Ms Rush says the Conservation Department has shot more than 100 wallabies before laying new grass at Mansion House in November, and did another shooting recently.

"They are allowed to cull them, but only when numbers are high, and they are just not doing this because there are no wallabies left."

But Warkworth DOC community relations manager Liz Maire says there has been no wallaby shootings on conservation reserves in the last few weeks.

She says a new lawn and planting of trees and shrubswork was done on the Mansion House gardens in November after the shooting was carried out.

"There’s no point in spending money without trying to control the animals that eat the plants," Ms Maire says. "The best way to control the wallabies is by shooting, and there have been two occasions – but not in the last few weeks.

"Shooting is the method we choose, so any poisoning being done is not by DOC and shouldn’t be on DOC land."

The animals have been declared pests under the regional pest management strategy.

Ms Rush says last month she noticed a grey wallaby, a regular visitor for treats, sitting beside her watertank unable to move.

She says the animal fell sideways and lay paralysed on the ground.

"If we hadn’t found him he would have laid there in the heat, being flyblown while alive and taking up to 21 days to die.

"We got him into a box and took him to a man, who loves wallabies, on the island and he was going to try to save him, but the wallaby died the next morning. The wallaby was examined by a doctor who confirmed it had been poisoned."

SPCA spokeswoman Sue Baudet says they have had various reports of wallaby poisoning, but it’s been a while since any were confirmed.

She says it is up to the New Zealand Food and Safety Authority to prosecute people found poisoning illegally.

The authority can prosecute using the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act anyone using poison incorrectly.

The authority did not return calls before the Rodney Times went to print.

For the SPCA to prosecute, it would need to know the exact place the poison was taken, the person responsible and where they got the poison, Ms Baudet says.

"I think it’s getting better compared to when we came on board," she says. "There seem to be less bodies washing up all over the place. We came into it early last year when it was really kicking off, and I think people know they will be in trouble for using poisons."

Auckland regional councillor Christine Rose says she was unaware the poisoning is continuing.

"The council is not responsible for the wallabies but we advise people not to do it, as there are no certified toxins," she says.

"People are allowed to shoot them – the strategy for dealing with the wallabies is to allow humane shooting," she says.

Mrs Rose says she doesn’t know if the situation has improved, but the council is committed to working through an integrated approach and talking to the community about options to manage wallabies better.

"The publicity brought things to a head, and it’s divisive for the community. There’s an opportunity to move forward and see what’s best for the whole ecology."

She says results of a toxins audit have arrived, but she doesn’t know the outcome.

"The audit is looking at what toxins are being used to kill the wallabies on the island. We are looking at consulting the community about the restoration for other introduced pests under the pest management strategy."

Ms Rush says there’s a famous swamp wallaby, bigger than most dogs, that everybody in the bay knew.

"She became so friendly to me that she would stand on my knee and let me pat her while she ate from my hands. Swampy is an example of how wicked it is to have an experience with animals like this on Kawau."

Unfortunately, Swampy died of natural causes last week.

"I believe that we have a moral obligation to these animals as they are endangered elsewhere in the world, yet thrive disease-free on Kawau," Ms Rush says. "It makes me wonder who we think we are to decide our wallabies are pests and must be completely eradicated. Someone has made a very bad decision here."

Rat explosion reported

Kawau resident Rachel Rush says an explosion of ship rats has begun on the island now that wallaby numbers are down.

"Wallabies help to keep the scrub low so that the weka and kiwi thrive as they are protected by this. It is why Kawau is described as the last stronghold of the North Island weka – it’s not in spite of the wallabies, but because of them."

"We are already hearing reports throughout the island of an increase in rats, and it fits in that the number of wallabies has never been this low.

Liz Maire from DOC says they don’t monitor rats, but the level of complaints about rats on the island hasn’t changed.

"We advise people of kiwi and weka friendly ways of rat control as the birds are curious and have long beaks so we need to modify the bait stations."

"DOC does not use toxins as a means of pest control on Kawau. We rely on snap traps for rats and shooting for wallabies."

- © Fairfax NZ News