Department of Conservation staff want to speak to a man filmed on CCTV at a site in Mt Taranaki where native bush has been cleared.
Department of Conservation staff want to speak to a man filmed on CCTV at a site in Mt Taranaki where native bush has been cleared.
Public help is wanted to find a man caught on CCTV camera after sections of native bush near Mt Taranaki were illegally cleared.
Conservation staff and police set up the camera as part of a bush sting after rangers became aware of a campsite and several sections of bush onthe northwest part of the Egmont/ Te Papakura o Taranaki National Park.
Now they have released photos of a man at one of the clearings, seen peeking at the hidden camera, apparently hidden behind leaves.
“This man’s face is clearly shown in the CCTV image, and we’d like to speak to him about what’s happened here,” Department of Conservation senior ranger Cameron Hunt said.
“We believe someone knows who he is, and we’d welcome any information which helps us identify him.”
Hunt said whoever set up the campsite had gone to a lot of trouble.
That included carrying in 200L plastic water tanks, a 44-gallon steel drum, five car batteries, a small fridge, a gas cooker and even building a floor from ponga logs and plywood.
The clearings measured up to 10m by 10m, and a pile of rubbish was found at the campsite.
With its classic cone shape and 2518m peak, Mt Taranaki lords it over the region.
Forming part of the legend of the central North Island mountains, it’s said Taranaki fled his ancestral home, broken-hearted, after losing the battle for beautiful Pihanga and his tears carved the Whanganui River.
