Hunting row: Keruru in Kiwis' sights too

Every year, between March and May, Department of Conservation rangers wage a quiet war below the radar against mostly Maori poachers who shoot kereru for food or cultural reasons and believe they have a customary right to do so.

In Northland, DoC rangers have begun targeted patrols of forests where kereru hunting is known to happen, hoping to catch offenders in the act.

The law does not recognise customary rights - the birds are a protected species under the Wildlife Act and the maximum penalty for shooting them is a $100,000 fine and up to six months' imprisonment. Many people discovered this last week when a group of Norwegians who had been on a hunting trip in New Zealand over summer posted footage on YouTube of themselves shooting kereru and other animals, including a paradise duck.

DoC has identified five Norwegians linked to the trip and is pursuing them through an international treaty. An official told a Norwegian newspaper the men could also face prosecution at home.

While the tourists bore the brunt of hundreds of scathing comments posted online from outraged Kiwis, what is not widely known is that every year New Zealand poachers also hunt kereru.

Since 2004, three Northland men - all repeat offenders - have been jailed for shooting the birds for food.

At this time of year kereru, or kukupa as they are known in Northland, are fat and flavoursome from gorging on the miro berry. Traditionally they are taken now because it is outside the breeding season.

The birds are usually shot with .22 rifles or shotguns, plucked in the bush, and later boiled whole and eaten. For Maori, kereru are a traditional source of food, but also have spiritual significance.

Dying kuia or kaumatua have called for a final meal of kereru in the belief that it will help them on their journey to the afterlife. This has been mentioned in sentencing submissions, but has generally not been an effective defence, says Ross Atkinson, principal compliance officer at DoC's Bay of Islands office.

Offenders have also tried to use a customary rights defence, Atkinson says, but that too has been rejected by the courts.

Applications can be made for permits to take protected species for cultural purposes but Atkinson does not know of any cases where this has been done for kereru.

Atkinson says kereru poaching is widespread. "Generally it happens throughout most of our forests in Northland and through other parts of the country as well." He says poachers are usually caught with two or three birds, but one person was caught with 13. Atkinson has taken about 70 cases to court throughout his career.

An affidavit by a scientist to the 2004 sentencing of Northland man Robert Cassidy, who had been caught red-handed, stated kereru in Northland were under threat from predators including humans and could become extinct in the region.

Atkinson says that since fines were increased from just $1500 about nine years ago, fewer people have come before the courts. That, and working in with local iwi to put rahui (bans) on kereru harvesting, has led to an increase in the bird's numbers.

Atkinson can understand why people are so outraged by the Norwegian hunters' actions. "I think the impact of that is different. We know that traditionally kereru have been taken over many years - unlawfully, but traditionally. This is more about visitors coming to our country and blatantly shooting a native species and then posting that footage for the world to see."

Kevin Prime, an environmental co-ordinator with the Ngati Hine iwi, says a rahui on kereru hunting has been in place in his area in the mid-north since about 1996. "I think there is a clear understanding of what rahui means, but there is less understanding of what the actual law is, pertaining to harvesting native birds. I don't think anyone would know what the fine is for taking a pigeon."

Prime says the tribe has worked to reduce predators in order to revitalise the kereru population, and at some point it may be possible for a quota to be introduced. But the birds are not as sought after as they once were, he says.

"There was a time when it was an issue, but a lot of those older people are dying out now. I think lots of young people now would be just as happy with Kentucky Fried Chicken."

Aubrey Temara, of Tuhoe in the eastern Bay of Plenty, says a rahui was declared many years ago because of a decline in kereru numbers, not helped by humans taking the birds for food.

Despite the tribe's best efforts at education, there will be people taking kereru around about now, he says. "Many of our people see it as a customary right; we don't necessarily share that view. It is an issue - we rely on the goodwill of our people to observe the rahui and not go anywhere near the birds."

KERERU KILLERS

* In 2004, Robert Milton Cassidy, of remote Utakura, Northland, was sentenced to six weeks' jail after being caught the previous year at Horeke with six dead kereru and a shotgun. He ran away and resisted arrest, and later said in court he had found the birds and gun while pig hunting. In 1999, Cassidy had been caught in possession of kereru feathers.

* In 2008, Northland men Michael Stanley Sampson and Murray Williams Ogle, of Horeke, were jailed for six weeks after admitting killing kereru. DoC rangers had found the pair on horseback in the Omahuta Forest with firearms and two dead, and still warm, kereru. Sampson had been caught for the same offence in the same forest in 2000.

* Currently in the South Island, a poacher is before the courts on charges of hunting and killing one kereru and will make their first appearance in the Christchurch District Court on April 29.

- © Fairfax NZ News