They have been found in North Otago, where animals have crossed over the Aviemore Dam, and in Ashley Forest north of Christchurch. They are most numerous in the Hunter Hills but are also found widely to the west and north.
Individuals have been sighted on Banks Peninsula, around the Rakaia River and near Lake Hawea, indicating that this species is extending its distribution naturally and through illegal liberations.
Males can reach over 20kg with females 14kg. The upper body is greyish-brown with a pale grey chest and belly, and reddish-brown on the shoulders. Their hind feet and tail are black-tipped.
Environment Canterbury and Otago Regional Council have a job to contain wallabies. They need community input; farmers, iwi and councils are involved.
A wallaby board used to be responsible for managing the marsupials; landowners were charged a specific wallaby rate.
But circumstances changed. The board was disbanded in the 1990s, and once calicivirus arrived to control rabbits, use of the 1080 poison that was used to kill them diminished.
Wallabies are classified as an unwanted organism, and possession of any live wallaby is an offence under the Biosecurity Act 1993 unless the landowner is exempt. Wallabies may be hunted all year round.
Wallabies have similar eating habits to possums. They:
· eat native and exotic seedlings, preventing regenerating native bush and damaging plantation forests;
· compete with livestock for pasture;
· reduce the forest understorey with possible impacts on water quality;
· damage tall tussock grasslands;
· destroy agricultural crops.
They also foul pasture and damage fences.
In the North Island, dama wallabies are a massive problem around the Rotorua lakes.
They occupy most of the area east of Rotorua west of Kawerau, spreading north to Pongakawa and south to the Paeroa Range. They occur on Mt Ngongotaha and into the Mamaku Range.
Dama wallabies are also found on Kawau Island. Governor George Grey brought five wallaby species there in 1870.
The dama stands up to half a metre tall. Adult females weigh around 5kg, while males can weigh up to 7kg. They are grey-brown with a paler grey underbelly. A thin white-silver stripe runs from under the eye to the nose. Mature animals may have a patch of reddish-brown at the shoulder.
Wallabies are wrecking forest ecosystems and increasing the risk of erosion. I wonder why an annual wallaby hunt is not organised, much like the bunny cull down south.
The Ministry for Primary Industries says, "lLeft unchecked, wallabies could spread across one-third of New Zealand over the next 50 years.
"They can't be bred, sold, moved or exhibited without a permit. They breed from a young age, so populations can build quickly if not effectively managed.
"They are a threat to our forest taonga as many native species are damaged by wallabies and not able to grow back over time. It's estimated that wallabies spread 0.8km in the North Island and 1.9km in the South Island every year.
"The economic impact of wallaby spread could reach $84 million a year by 2025."
In 2020, as part of the Jobs for Nature funding, $27m was allocated over a four-year period to control wallabies in NZ.
Any sightings outside wallabies' core distribution areas should be reported to the MPI Pests and Diseases Hotline 0800 80 99 66.
Margi Keys is the secretary of the Whanganui Museum Botanical Group, and volunteer at Gordon Park Scenic Reserve and Tarapuruhi/Bushy Park. She also convenes Green Drinks Whanganui.
