Groups across the Bay of Plenty and Waikato are banding to stop wallabies dispersing from Whakarewarewa Forest.
Many are jumping for joy as an impressive 12.5 kilometre wallaby fence breaks ground in the Whakarewarewa Forest, hopefully halting the spread of the Australian native.
Blessings and karakia brought together key partners and signalled the beginning of the project recently.
The Bay of Plenty has become home to the Dama wallaby species, but they are now spreading into parts of the Waikato, and currently cover an area of more than 200,000 hectares.
The wallaby-proof fence will run alongside State Highway 5 and aims to keep the pest in Whakarewarewa Forest, to stop them migrating under the cover of darkness.
Caleb Male, managing director of Kenai Limited, is overseeing the project and said “we’re basically putting the line on the ground saying it’s enough.”
“We’re ring-fencing Whakarewarewa,” he said. “And the reason for that is it’s got a large infestation, from Ōkāreka heading over (into the Waikato). We want to stop that invasion.”
The fence is the result of years of discussion and hard work by multiple stakeholders and finally the end is in sight.
“It’s really a 12 month project. It’s quite a complex project. It’s not just a ‘let’s go put a fence in the ground or post on the ground like in the middle of a farm’. We’ve got a whole lot of landowner negotiations. There’s a property aspect and a whole lot of project partners. We’re working with mana whenua, farmers, foresters councils, MPI.”
The project is costing around $1.5 million, and it’s expected to save just as much over the next 15 years in reduced surveillance of the migrating marsupial.
The fencing will keep wallabies in the forest, while methods of eradication are explored, something that is already under way in other parts of the region.
Greg Corbett, Bay of Plenty Regional Council biosecurity manager, said the fence solution is perfect for wallabies.
“They don’t actually tend to jump over obstacles. They like to push under or through them,” he said.
Corbett said that keeping them at bay is the best solution.
“We know the wallabies are at carrying capacity and the reason that we’re getting wallabies moving to the south-west, into the Waikato, is because basically there’s no spare space and no food for new wallabies being born.
“So what we’re hoping to see is that the actual breeding capability of females and males will reduce because they haven’t got the food resources to support the growing of a young animal.”
Corbett said, once the forest population is under control, “we’re definitely going to have to use poisons of some kind. Currently, we’re really restricted on what poisons we’re allowed to use on wallabies. They are cyanide, encapsulated cyanide, and 1080.”
While the use of poisons can be controversial, Corbett said that correct handling and usage means they’re a low risk to native fauna.
“We know over time that the use of dyes and baits can deter birds, and certain lures can deter birds. If we’re using the right application, the risks to the environment are very minimal.”
He wants people to understand the appetite of these jolly jumpers is a threat to agriculture and forestry as well as native bush.
“Wallabies are really good at browsing quite a wide range of our native plants and they break them off as soon as they pop up above the ground.
“Eventually we will see those types of plants disappear completely from our forests; and unfortunately, those are the plants that our native birds and other native wildlife like to eat as well.
“So really, for all our primary industries there and our native ecosystems, there’s nothing good about [wallabies] in the environment.”
Male insists removing the persistent pests is going to take a team effort.
“If you look at the All Blacks at Eden Park, they’ve got a no loss record since ‘94. For us to have that with the wallabies, we’re going to require a big crowd and that’s our community, and that is reporting wallabies and teaching everyone that wallabies aren’t this cute little cuddly pet.”
