The recent Pureora Hunting Competition has been a success with more than 200 pest animals tallied for the prizegiving.
The annual competition, run by the Department of Conservation (DoC) since 1988, is a pest control event in the Pureora Forest Park, near Lake Taupō, that targets pigs, deer, and smaller species like rats.
This year’s competition ran from March 16 to April 28 and at the prizegiving last week, DoC tallied more than 70 deer, 14 pigs, 77 goat tails, six mustelids and 39 rats.
“We couldn’t be more stoked with the turnout ... This brings competition numbers back up to pre-Covid levels,” DoC said in a social media post.
“It was awesome to see the junior competitors focus on priority pests, raising awareness among rangatahi of the damage these critters can do.”