If Sonny Tau were interested in customary hunting rights for Maori, poaching birds was a move in the wrong direction.
After Ngapuhi chairman Sonny Tau was apprehended with five dead kereru this week, he was quick to apologise, saying he had made a mistake. He is far from alone in his transgression, however. Poaching of the native wood pigeon is widespread, notably in Northland. The bird, identified by its brilliant plumage, is much valued as a food and, when found, easily shot.
It is also prized culturally. Dying elders believe, for example, that a final meal of kereru will help their journey to the afterlife.
That creates an obvious friction with the bird's protected status. Hunting it was banned nearly 100 years ago when it was threatened with extinction. Further safeguards were imposed near the turn of this century when the maximum penalty for poaching was increased greatly from $1500 to $10,000 and up to six months' imprisonment. That, and the control of other predators, has helped to revitalise the kereru population.
Maori poachers have argued that they have a customary right to hunt the pigeon. Courts have not agreed. But a continued growth in the kereru's numbers opens the way to tradition being acknowledged through a hunting quota. Ideally, this would see iwi assuming guardianship and working closely with the Conservation Department to ensure the bird continues to prosper.
