Rahui needed to protect birds

LOCAL PROBLEM: Almost 90 per cent of convictions for poaching or possessing the endangered native wood pigeon - or kukupa or kereru as it is known - are in Northland.

A whopping 89 per cent of convictions for illegal hunting or possession of kukupa were for offences occurring in Northland.

Department of Conservation (DoC) statistics show there have been 56 convictions for the illegal hunting and possession of kukupa nationally since DoC was established in 1987. However, 50 of these - 89 per cent - were for offences that occurred in Northland.

The last conviction for the illegal hunting and possession of kukupa in Northland was 2007, but a DoC spokeswoman said reports from the public and evidence of illegal hunting indicated the crime was still a problem for the region. She said the lack of convictions for the illegal hunting and possession of kukupa in Northland was due to a range of factors including collecting sufficient evidence for prosecution.

"For example, the apprehension of individuals that led to the most recent convictions in Northland occurred deep in remote forests with the assistance of armed police and were complex operations involving considerable resources."

Chairman of the Northland Conservation Board, Mita Harris, said conviction was the "last resort" and encouraged hapu and iwi to place rahui on forests to prevent the crime from happening in the first place.

"I mean it's my position law and enforcement is the last resort. It's lore versus law. I put it over to them, it is time to stop. Put rahui in place, let's get it known the numbers aren't as great as they once were. I mean people used to go in the forest and bring back four birds - you just don't do that anymore," he said.

Mr Harris said he hoped that if iwi and hapu implemented rahui on local forests it would stop people who were not put off by the law.

"Hapu need to take it upon themselves, look at what they've got in there rohe whether it be kukupa or kiwi, and decide on these things. It's tino rangatiratanga, self-determination."

The DoC spokeswoman said currently they relied on reports of illegal hunting from the public and also monitored areas where hunting was known to have taken place. Examples of forest areas where poaching had occurred included Reatea, Omahuta, Puketi, Russell, Waipoua, Tutumoe, Herekino and Utukura. She said she could not comment on the number of reports for the illegal hunting and possession of kukupa but said in the past three years DoC compliance rangers responded with police on at least two occasions where accurate and timely information was received from the public. One was in 2013 in the Kaikohe region and the other was in 2014 in the Kaitaia region.

"On both these occasions, which involved travel to remote locations, the alleged offenders had already moved on. People should report any incidents of illegal wildlife hunting to the DOC emergency hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468). Any specific information in relation to the location of the alleged offending or identity of the offenders is useful."

Ngapuuhi runanga chairman Sonny Tau will appear in the Invercargill District Court on Friday, facing charges of hunting/killing kukupa and possessing the protected birds after he was allegedly found with kukupa in his possession at Invercargill Airport on June 16.

The last two men convicted of hunting, killing and possessing kukupa were jailed in 2008 for six weeks. Michael Stanley Sampson, then 36, and Murray William Ogle, then 33, of Horeke pleaded guilty in the Kaikohe District Court on February 21 that year to hunting, killing and possessing kukupa in the Omahuta Conservation Forest on May 24, 2007. They also each pleaded guilty to a further charge of taking horses into the conservation area.