Six-week jail sentence for shooting native pigeons welcomed

7.20pm

A conservation group has welcomed the six-week jail sentence given to a man for shooting six protected native wood pigeons (kereru).

Forest and Bird conservation manager Kevin Hackwell said that the sentencing today in Kaikohe District Court of Robert Cassidy, 46, of Utakura, to six weeks' jail sent a clear message to poachers of protected species.

"This will send an important signal to the poachers that this kind of thing is unacceptable."

Previously in court Cassidy had admitted possessing the pigeons but claimed he had found them, along with a shotgun and cartridges, while pig hunting. He was convicted of two counts, under the Wildlife Act, of hunting and killing the birds.

Mr Hackwell said he believed it was the first time someone had received a jail term for poaching, under the Act.

"He took six birds. Kereru only have one nest with one egg a year. They are a slow-breeding bird and we don't have the vast tracts of forest that used to occur hundreds of years ago that could sustain huge tracts of them... they are under real pressure," he said.

Predators such as stoats added to that pressure, he said.

He said the Department of Conservation (DOC) had done a great job pursuing the case so vigorously.

New Zealand First conservation spokesman Edwin Perry said the jail term would be a deterrent to anyone who hunted protected wildlife.

"Native birds have enough to contend with in the form of predators without being hunted by people who know they are breaking the law," he said in a statement.

"In years gone by native pigeons were hunted as food but in this day and age that can hardly be given as an excuse.

"This outcome will demonstrate that the theft and destruction of wildlife in this country are no longer taken lightly by either DOC or the courts."

- NZPA