By JASON COLLIE transport reporter
Police may consult the SPCA before ordering any repeat of a wild turkey shoot on the motorway north of Auckland.
Animal activists were outraged yesterday that 25 wild turkeys and geese were shot by rangers on the new stretch of the Northern Motorway, 4km south of Silverdale, because police feared the birds were a danger to motorists.
Traffic police said the shoot - which closed State Highway 1 for two hours on Sunday morning - was justified but, after talks with the SPCA, said they would try to consult the group if they had enough time in future.
SPCA director Bob Kerridge said the birds, which had nested at the site before the motorway realignment was built, could have been rounded up and moved.
Sergeant Mike Neary, head of the accident investigation unit at Ellerslie, said rangers were called in after a fatal accident at the site on Thursday night.
Although the accident was not caused by the birds, police had received complaints and decided it was time to cull them.
"It had to be done quickly because I would feel very bad if we left it any longer and had an accident up there where one of these animals was involved," Sergeant Neary said.
"People safety comes before these animals."
The rangers - part of Manukau City Council's environmental compliance team, which holds the contract for animal control on motorways - did not believe the birds could have been herded up in one go, he said.
The birds were killed as humanely as possible.
Not all of the birds were killed and Sergeant Neary said more action might be needed.
Mr Kerridge said the SPCA had received complaints about the shoot and wanted to advise police on future round-ups.
"The public are incensed by this.
"We are conscious of the danger of animals on the motorway," he said.
"There are some situations where there is no alternative ... there was on this occasion."
Motorway bird cull infuriates activists
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