DoC culls pukeko to save rare duck

By ANNE BESTON environment reporter

The Government's conservation agency has shot more than 1700 partly-protected pukeko over the past two years in an effort to save a critically endangered duck.

The culling of 1756 pukeko at Okiwi Basin, Great Barrier Island, was done after an alarming drop in brown teal numbers. The ducks had dwindled from more than 900 in the 1980s to just 210 by 2000.

Research has shown pukeko are a major predator of ducklings.

Great Barrier Island Department of Conservation officer Jim Flack said the cull had only halved their numbers at Okiwi.

"Controlling one native species for the benefit of another is something no one enjoys," he said. "It's a hard decision but it is the only way to get pukeko down to a safe number.

"When we've done that, we'll stop."

Mr Flack said pukeko were aggressive and territorial. Residents on the Hauraki Gulf island had seen one rip the head off a brown teal duckling.

Since culling began in June 2000, the brown teal population had stabilised, Mr Flack said, and the last flock count was about 300 birds.

Department staff had also trapped and killed 286 feral cats at the 800ha Okiwi Basin.

"That is just a staggering number in a relatively small area," Mr Flack said. "With no possums or stoats, the cat is on a great wicket out here.

"They are a super-predator because they don't compete with any other predator for food."

The trapping and killing of cats would continue to prevent reinvasion, he said.

Brown teal are sometimes referred to as New Zealand's "rubber ducky" because of their resemblance to the bathroom toy.

They were once spread over mainland New Zealand but are now restricted to Great Barrier and a small population in Northland.

The pukeko is not the first native to be culled by the department.

DoC was criticised by Act Party MP Ken Shirley this year when it was revealed 400 weka on the Chatham Islands were being killed by DoC staff to protect the critically endangered taiko, one of the world's rarest seabirds.

Pukeko are protected nationally, but can be shot for sport during the shooting season.

The distinctive indigo-blue birds with a constantly-flicking white tail are renowned for their cheekiness.

Unlike brown teal, they are also found in parts of Africa, Asia and Australia.