More peril for rare sheep after brutal attack

David Tuart pictured with the remains of his flock of Hebridean sheep near Rotorua. Photo / Alan Gibson

An "unbelievably cruel" attack on a flock of rare sheep has forced a Rotorua farmer to call for urgent help.

The attacker took a rifle and his dog into David Tuart's farm two weeks ago in a night-time raid that left the paddock littered with more than 50 mauled sheep.

The police armed offenders squad was called in the next morning, and had to kill ewes writhing in pain with ears and jaws shot or bitten off.

Mr Tuart has yet to gather all the lambs left motherless two weeks after the attack, as the large paddock traverses a forested area.

His Welsh Aran sheep, of which only 17 remain after 11 were killed, were the only ones left in the world.

The Auckland Regional Council has offered refuge to the sheep in regional parks, with the support of council chairman Mike Lee.

In the meantime, the sheep are starving in Mr Tuart's yards, as he cannot afford on his pensioner's income to buy enough feed for them.

Mr Tuart came across the sheep in the 1950s when surveying Arapawa Island, in the Marlborough Sounds, with the Wildlife Service and National Forest Survey.

A few breeds of rare sheep were found there, left by 18th-century whalers and sealers.

About eight years ago, the island was to be cleared by the Department of Conservation, prompting Mr Tuart to return. He found four Welsh Aran sheep left, carried them to Queen Charlotte Sound by boat, and drove them to Rotorua in his trailer.

He slowly built up a flock, bringing the breed back from the brink of extinction.

Also at Mr Tuart's farm were Scottish Hebridean and Scottish Grampian sheep, both endangered and both devastated in the attack.

"It was the most horrific thing I've ever seen. It was unbelievably cruel and sadistic," Mr Tuart said. "All the sheep are rare and practically extinct."

He said a trust for endangered rare animals needed to be set up, because he has used all his money trying to save them.