By WAYNE THOMPSON
The rainbow lorikeet, an Australian native parrot that has been living around Auckland for several years, will come off the protected species list from October 1.
Conservation Minister Sandra Lee said the lorikeet had been protected by default under the Wildlife Act, despite being a threat to native birds.
The
blue-headed birds had already been declared unwanted organisms under the Biosecurity Act.
The minister said Department of Conservation staff, who were trapping lorikeets in Auckland, believed the bird dominated the food sources of native birds such as the tui.
Last year DoC was granted $350,000 to get rid of the lorikeets.
DoC spokesman Ian Bradley said last night that he did not have up-to-date figures on the numbers trapped but there had been few reports recently of sightings of the birds.
The lorikeets had originally been caged birds, but escaped.
North Shore lorikeet fancier Rex Gilfillan, who was charged by DoC with releasing the birds seven years ago but was not convicted, said last night that he understood 31 birds had been trapped.
He said the trapping was an expensive exercise and one that DoC was unable to prove had any benefit for the native-bird population.
