On The Up: Rotorua Airport’s four-legged employee gets national recognition for helping wildlife problem

Charlie, Rotorua Airport’s “Head of Dog Ops”, has become a model for other airports looking to improve wildlife control. Inset photo / Supplied

A dog who accidentally joined the pack at Rotorua Airport has been celebrated nationally for his role in improving aviation safety.

The almost 4-year-old Charlie became the airport’s “head of dog ops” after proving he was far more than just operations and infrastructure manager Ben Alton’s pet.

It may sound like “just a cute story”, Alton said, but Charlie’s role “is not a gimmick”.

“It is really innovative.”

Alton adopted Charlie while still working for Fire and Emergency, where he spent two decades fighting fires across Wellington and the Bay of Plenty.

He expected the long-haired lurcher would eventually accompany him there until a job at Rotorua Airport changed his career path.

Initially thinking, “I can’t take my dog to work now”, Alton prepared to leave Charlie at home.

But having only just adopted Charlie, Alton arranged with his new manager to bring the pup along.

In his new job, Alton realised how significant the airport’s bird problem was.

Sitting on the shores of Lake Rotorua and neighbouring wetland reserves, the airport had one of the highest bird-strike and near-miss rates in the country despite extensive wildlife-management measures.

Rotorua Airport used a range of bird deterrents to ensure safety, including pyrotechnics, reflective spinners, gas cannons, sounders, decoys, lasers and firearms.

Alton had an idea: “Charlie loves chasing things.”

And training began.

First came acclimatisation to get Charlie used to the noise, movement and environment of the airport. He was taken on long-lead walks around the property, building confidence around aircraft.

Rotorua Airport’s Ben Alton with his dog Charlie, the only canine currently employed for wildlife management at any New Zealand airport. Photo / Supplied

The team tested his recall and worked with the control tower to develop procedures that allowed Charlie to work safely on the airfield without disrupting aircraft operations.

“He did all of the things we needed him to do”, Alton said.

Charlie was “off like a rocket” running after plovers, ducks, swans, pūkeko and the odd hare.

He was “fast like a greyhound”, but had a “bit more stamina”, Alton said.

He has now been on the peanut butter cookie and pats payroll for almost three years and was the only working dog in New Zealand being used as an “effective tool” for wildlife management at an airport, Alton said.

The number of bird strikes had “decreased significantly”, Alton said.

Rotorua Airport expanded its dog operations to multiple handlers in 2024, and its bird-strike rate dropped from 25.3 per 1000 aircraft movements in quarter three of 2022 to 2.9 in quarter three of 2024.

Charlie is the only dog currently employed for wildlife management at any New Zealand airport. Photo / Supplied

When Charlie took two months of sick leave in April after developing an infection, bird-strike numbers rose again.

Alton could not say for certain Charlie’s absence was the sole cause, but the timing did not feel like a coincidence, reinforcing for him that “Charlie is quite effective”.

Even the sound of the Polaris Ranger, the team’s dog ops vehicle of choice, was associated with danger by the birds, working as a deterrent if Charlie was not on the job.

A new Aeronautical Excellence Award was presented at the 2025 NZ Airports Association Awards, recognising Blackmaps Geospatial for developing a high-tech obstacle-mapping system using LiDAR and drone data to monitor hazards around Rotorua Airport’s flight paths.

Charlie, Rotorua Airport’s “Head of Dog Ops”, has become a model for other airports looking to improve wildlife control. Photo / Supplied

For the first time, an animal’s work was acknowledged at the awards.

Judges were so impressed by Charlie’s wildlife-control efforts, they created a special commendation just for him – Top Dog in Aviation.

Charlie’s career had turned into a “blueprint” for other airports trying to manage birds and other wildlife.

At this year’s Auckland Aviation Wildlife Safety Conference, Alton said the Rotorua team was approached by “several airports” wanting an update and seeking advice on how to introduce their own version of “dog ops”.

Airports across the country faced different bird and wildlife pressures, but Alton said working dogs were proving to be a “cost-effective yet invaluable addition” to any airport’s “arsenal of bird deterrents”.

Alton said Charlie was “definitely going to be the start of an ongoing dog ops tradition” at Rotorua Airport.

“Plus, everyone loves him”.

Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.