The team of hunters, and their dogs, who will be shooting goats in Russell State Forest.
The team of hunters, and their dogs, who will be shooting goats in Russell State Forest.
A crack team of professional hunters have their sights trained on feral goats in Russell State Forest ahead of a cull of sika deer in the forest.
They need to get rid of the goats first because their faeces can be confused with those of the deer and could impact getting the correct numbers of deer.
A small sika herd in Russell Forest has been designated as top priority for eradication by Northland Regional Council and its stakeholders because of the impact the deer have on the forest's native biodiversity.
Northland Regional Councillor Jack Craw, who chairs the council's Biosecurity and Biodiversity Working Party, said the deer's potential role as hosts of bovine tuberculosis and vector for kauri dieback disease is also an issue.
"Council has been working closely with local hapū, the Department of Conservation, and the local community to make this happen."
A sika DNA survey was undertaken in May last year across sika habitat to enable costs for an eradication to be assessed and techniques to be reviewed in anticipation of a looming eradication project this year.
The collection of deer faeces and use of DNA analysis provides information on the home range and identity of individual sika and is a technique that has worked successfully in other deer eradication projects around New Zealand and the world.
However, high numbers of feral goats within the forest are a complicating factor for the sika eradication.
"Goat faeces can be confused with those of sika and subsequent analysis of goat faeces inadvertently collected as part of the sika survey will add significant costs and time to the operation," he said.
To reduce this risk, one of the initial steps in the sika eradication project will be to reduce feral goat populations before undertaking the sika DNA survey, which will also have huge benefits for the forest.
"A team of professional goat hunters will be hunting goats over approximately 2500 hectares of private and conservation land over a two-week period using kiwi aversion trained bailing dogs, as well as a helicopter for transport to high ridges."
Featherston-based professional hunter Cole Ritchie and his 3-year-old dog 'Flea' are among a team of hunters hunting goats in the Russell Forest.
The hunters will also be trained in kauri dieback mitigation methods to ensure the disease will not be spread during the hunt.
When the goat numbers have been reduced, a DNA survey will be implemented over the entire Russell Forest to confirm the sika population which will take five to six months.
"The priority for this phase of the project is to collect DNA samples from all the potential sika habitat within Russell Forest so we get an accurate measure of the population status," he said.
Spacing at 150 metres ensures that the survey will collect multiple samples from the home range of every deer present in the area.
The analysis of the DNA will enable NRC to determine how many deer are present, accurately map the home range, and determine the sex of each sika.
The survey - which will cover about 7000ha - will be carried out in spring this year when weather is dry to avoid spread of kauri dieback.
