TOP STORY: Seagull deaths may be poison

KELLY BURNS
The Hawke's Bay Regional Council didn't have to look too far before discovering who was likely to be behind the deaths of seagulls found scattered around Waimarama last month.
It was probably council staff.
A council report states "it appeared that the seagull deaths at Waimarama had been caused by the gulls coming into contact with poisons which had been laid during the annual council rook programme."
That effectively meant the council may have poisoned the gulls in early December, although not intentionally.
Hawke's Bay Today was contacted by several concerned Waimarama residents who had found the dead and dying birds. When the regional council recovered the dead birds staff said they would conduct tests to see how they were killed. They also took samples from nearby water.
No mention was made of the rook poisoning programme. However, regional council team leader of compliance Bryce Lawrence said it was too early tell the cause of death, but the birds symptoms suggested poisoning was possible.
Tests had yet to be completed by BioSecurity as workloads in laboratories had been heavy before Christmas. Council investigating officers were away on holiday and could not be contacted for comment on the rook programme.
About 20 dead seagulls were found on Waimarama beach last month and speculation ran rife as to what caused the deaths.
Department of Conservation (DOC) area manager Ken Hunt said if the deaths were caused by council poison it would be regrettable.
However he supported the council's approach to tackling rooks. Getting rid of the pests was more beneficial than harming a few seagulls.
While seagulls were a native bird, they were not endangered. Rooks were an aggressive bird, destructive to farming and a threat to natural bird wildlife, Mr Hunt said.