KEY POINTS:
Arapawa goats have been given a second chance, thanks to an independent MP's bleating.
Gordon Copeland tried to draw attention to the plight of the Marlborough Sounds goats in the House this month.
He used one of his rare opportunities to ask parliamentary questions to quiz Conservation Minister Steve Chadwick over plans to cull the goats because officials believe they are an introduced pest that eats native plants.
Mr Copeland took issue with this, but his attempts to explain the importance of the goats evoked much humorous bleating from MPs around the House.
Now, goat lovers have been given more time to save the goats living on Arapawa Island Scenic Reserve.
Department of Conservation Sounds area manager Roy Grose said goat advocates would be given until September 1 to take goats away, the Marlborough Express reported.
"Our policy is not to exterminate all Arapawa goats on the island but to control them to low levels on the reserve," he said.
Mr Grose said goat advocates would be allowed to capture and take away the goats provided they meet certain conditions.
These included providing an acceptable capture plan by April 30.
Arapawa goat campaigner Betty Rowe said she was pleased with the delay.
"We'd have to see how we could move them through dense bush, it would not be an easy job ... I did this many years ago back in the 1970s, but I was a young woman then. I am nearly 77 now."
Mr Copeland said yesterday he was meeting with Ms Chadwick to discuss the situation in early April.
"I believe it is possible both to preserve a beautiful part of our natural history [the goats] and at the same time the flora and fauna on that island.
"Regeneration of native vegetation is flourishing on Arapawa Island, and it needs to be determined whether the proposed goat cull is justified or is just policy based on the old dogma of hating so-called introduced species."
Mr Copeland said he had been actively promoting the recognition of wild animals such as wild deer, chamois and thar.
"It needs to be remembered that DNA testing has proven the Arapawa goats to be a genetically unique breed. They are the descendants of two goats left on the island by Captain James Cook in 1773.
"We have a duty to safeguard and preserve these goats for all time."
- NZPA
