Hunters kill rare goats at wildlife sanctuary

Police are investigating the shooting of at least eight rare goats by a group on a speedboat at a wildlife sanctuary on Arapawa Island in Queen Charlotte Sounds.

Mrs Betty Rowe, who has lived on the island for the past 34 years farming rare breeds of animals on a 121ha property, said the killing of her goats had been an "extremely stressful and traumatic experience".

Her Arapawa goats are unique and have persisted in a feral state on the island for the past 150 years. Their self-sustainability and disease resistance have made them valuable for their genetic diversity.

DNA tests are at present under way in England to determine their link with early settlers from Britain.

Mrs Rowe said it was not uncommon for people to come close to the island to take a look at her animals but she got a fright on July 3.

"I went to my door and heard what I thought sounded like a shot. I wasn't sure if it was a shot and didn't hear anything again but when I went to sit back down again all hell broke loose."

Mrs Rowe said she heard about 16 or 17 shots "overlapping", which possibly indicated more than one person was firing at the animals.

Mrs Rowe said her grandson's wife also heard the shots from another property on the island.

Her grandson chased five people in a boat but had to give up because his boat was not fast enough and did not have enough fuel.

Picton police confirmed they were investigating and Senior Sergeant Peter Payne said they had "plenty to continue on".

Mr Payne said it was unusual for this type of shooting to take place.

Anyone responsible could be fined up to $10,000 under the Wild Animal Control Act.

But this means little to 75-year-old Mrs Rowe, who hand-reared many of the endangered animals.

"It's been quite heartbreaking when you raise animals and see them like this. They have never known anything but gentleness and kindness."

Eight goats are confirmed dead and seven others are missing. Other animals on the island have also not returned.

"My goats were just coming home for the evening and this happened - even Buttercup [her pet pig]) is missing."