Lost hunter rescued after days in reserve

FILE

A Rotorua hunter who spent three days lost in the Mokaihaha Scenic Reserve would not have survived another night in the bush, police say.

Rotorua police were advised of a missing hunter in the reserve, on the Mamaku Plateau, at 11.30am yesterday.

The 29-year-old Rotorua man went missing late Friday afternoon while searching for a lost pig dog.

Search & Rescue co-ordinator Detective Sergeant John Wilson said weather in the area was "atrocious with low cloud and rain during the day which had started in the early hours of the morning".

A team of searchers began tracking the man from where he had gone into the bush to look for the dog, however their efforts were hampered by the weather conditions.

Searchers were deployed in 4WDs to check forestry roads surrounding the reserve.

The search was suspended at about 8pm and resumed today with fresh teams and an improving weather forecast, Mr Wilson said.

An aerial search was carried out and five teams of searchers, comprised of LandSAR volunteers and police Search & Rescue squad members, and three 4WDs from the Geyserland Four Wheel Drive club, returned to the area to resume searching.

Friends and family of the missing man also helped with the search.

The hunter was found by a tracking team about 10am suffering from hypothermia. He was taken to Rotorua Hospital for treatment.

A hospital spokeswoman said the man's condition was satisfactory.

"This is a great result considering how long this man had been missing and the conditions he had been out in," Mr Wilson said.

"Given the state he was in when he was found I doubt very much he would have survived another night."