Bay of Plenty-based contractor Guus Knopers and his canine workmate, eight-year-old German short-haired pointer 'Lotte', prepare to search a Waimamaku property after a wallaby sighting.
Bay of Plenty-based contractor Guus Knopers and his canine workmate, eight-year-old German short-haired pointer 'Lotte', prepare to search a Waimamaku property after a wallaby sighting.
The hunt is on for a wallaby reportedly seen in Northland.
Up to a dozen staff and contractors from the Northland Regional Council, Department of Conservation and Te Roroa iwi are working on an initial response and working over roughly 500 hectares of privately owned farmland and native bush, at Waimamaku, south Hokianga.
Two specially-trained wallaby tracking dogs arrived in Northland this week to undertake additional surveillance. But after two and a half days they have been unable to track the unwanted invader.
Dog handler Guus Knopers and Lotte, an eight-year-old German short-haired pointer, who has been specifically trained to track wallabies began their search this week.
The duo frequently track wallaby in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
Lotte, a specially-trained eight-year-old German short-haired pointer, searching a South Hokianga property for unwanted wallaby. Photo/ Supplied
NRC biosecurity manager Kane McElrea said a Hokianga local described the distinctive kangaroo-like creature, which they saw close-up more than once, and raised the alarm with the Department of Conservation. The council was alerted in mid-April.
Wallabies were not wanted as they native and exotic seedlings and pasture, making them potentially costly to the farming and forestry sectors and posing a risk to native bush too, as they can limit the regeneration of some species.
"In my opinion, they're even more of a threat to Northland than possums, which is why they're are formally classified as an 'exclusion pest' under the council's Regional Pest Management Plan due to the serious environmental, economic and other risks they pose."
Initial surveillance using high tech thermal imaging equipment, baited motion detection cameras and DNA testing of scat and fur had not yet confirmed the presence of any wallaby, McElra said.
He said with several species of wallaby long present in other parts of New Zealand, the potential Northland sightings were being taken seriously.
"If indeed a wallaby or wallabies are here, the most likely scenario is a deliberate, and illegal liberation from either the central North Island or Kawau Island."
It is understood the witness saw a wallaby on at least two separate occasions at their Waimamaku property in recent months, but did not initially appreciate the potential significance of the incidents.
Taking a break... Contractor Guus Knopers and Lotte take a break before resuming the search for wallaby in the South Hokianga.
Locals in the search area had supported the search. McElra said the case served as a reminder of the need to report any suspicious animal, fish or plant as soon as possible to the regional council's biosecurity team on 0800 002 004.
The regional council is footing the $10,000 bill for the initial response to the potential wallaby incursion. However, if the pest's presence was confirmed in Northland, a more extensive campaign to eradicate them would be needed
