Ducks killed in 'disturbing' Dannevirke park drive-by incident

The lower end of the Dannevirke Domain is a popular place for people to take lunches. Photo / Leanne Warr

Tararua District Council has condemned "anti-social" behaviour which has seen ducks being killed in Dannevirke Domain.

A council spokesperson said they'd had "disturbing" reports of people driving through the domain and running over ducks.

That has prompted the council to investigate measures to stop the behaviour, including adding security cameras in the lower domain.

Regulatory services manager James Single said a member of the public had reported the discovery of dead ducks and had seen a vehicle in the vicinity at the time of the incident.

"[She] had just driven down to the bottom and there were no ducks lying dead or anything. She was down there for a short time and came back up and there were three run over."

He said the lady gave a description of the vehicle, but hadn't got the registration number.

The bodies of the ducks were on the dirt and from the tyre tracks it looked like the car had been driven off the tarmac.

Ducks sleeping near the pond. Photo / Leanne Warr

SPCA inspectorate team leader Pip Lamb said that kind of behaviour was very concerning.

"Under the Animal Welfare Act, deliberately running down ducks and killing them would likely be a breach of the act."

She said the relevant section was wilful or reckless ill treatment of a wild animal and the penalties for the two were separate.

If someone was charged with reckless ill treatment, they could potentially face imprisonment of up to three years or a maximum fine of $75,000.

Lamb said if it was wilful, which was a higher level offence, the maximum sentence could be imprisonment of no more than five years or a fine "not exceeding" $100,000.

The SPCA had seen similar incidents over the years and historical cases, for instance where a speedboat had been running down birds in the water.

Lamb was concerned about the incident in the domain and wanted anyone with any information about it to report it to the SPCA.

"That kind of behaviour is incredibly frustrating," she said.

It wasn't just ducks because there were other animals in the lower domain, including a deer park.

Council had been getting complaints of people dumping rubbish and incidents of vandalism, including taking down road signs and "generally unacceptable behaviour increasing in our district".

"These are community issues that are costing us all a lot of money."

Single said one option the council was investigating was to install security cameras in the areas around the duck pond.

This would potentially catch anyone deliberately running down ducks, or disturbing any of the wildlife, and also alert council to anyone dumping rubbish in the domain.

There were also plans to improve the road around the domain to actively do something to slow down traffic.