A wallaby being kept as a pet in Hamilton has prompted a warning from the regional council that they are pests not pets.
The Waikato Regional Council is investigating a report earlier this month that the dama wallaby is being kept as a pet at a Hamilton residence and says it is an offence under the Biosecurity Act.
Waikato Biosecurity pest animals team leader Brett Bailey said wallabies were not pets and the damage they caused was costly both in a financial and environmental sense.
Wallabies were like possums and destroyed native bush by feeding on seedlings, ferns and grasses and starving native birds and other animals of food and shelter.
They were also hard to contain, he said.