Federated Farmers: Marsupial menace may be deliberate

There is concern that wallabies have been deliberately released south of the Waitaki River.

The Otago Regional Council has wallabies firmly in its sights.

The marsupial pests have long been a scourge to landowners in the Timaru and Waimate district of South Canterbury but they have hopped the Waitaki River, with a growing number of sightings in North and Central Otago in the last few years.

A Ministry of Primary Industries report in 2016 put the annual cost of wallaby eradication at about $23 million (the smaller Dama wallaby is also to be found around Lake Tarawera and Rotorua in the North Island), and stated this could balloon to $67m in a decade without action.

Federated Farmers High Country policy adviser Bob Douglas said that, while the Red-Necked or Bennett's wallabies in the South Island weren't as prolific as rabbits, "you certainly wouldn't want too many of them together to build up to those populations".

Spurred by farmers' concerns about potential damage to grassland, the Otago Regional Council said in its 2017 Annual Plan it was working with Environment Canterbury, community groups and pest companies to assist in preventing a wallaby population from establishing in the region. The stated aim is to eradicate rather than just control wallabies in Otago.

Federated Farmers' Dunedin-based senior policy adviser David Cooper said the ORC has set aside funding for a review of the Pest Management Strategy, with a draft due to be notified by March 1 next year.

"The current regulatory situation is that landowners are responsible for controlling any wallabies on their own properties" David said.

"However, that is proving difficult/inequitable because some wallabies are potentially being purposefully released, and the benefits of control of a reasonably new pest like wallabies are of a value which extends beyond the immediately impacted landowner," David said.

The regional council has also budgeted $274,000 from general rates in the current financial year for monitoring wallaby movements.

Meanwhile, Environment Canterbury targeted Wallabies in the Mackenzie district with a campaign in August and September. For the first two rounds, 'bliss ball' nut treats were left in remote hill country sites; for the third round the bliss balls were a potent mix of peanut butter and cyanide.

Both councils are concerned people are deliberately capturing and moving wallabies, for pets or hunting purposes.

Capturing, holding or removing wallabies from designated containment areas is illegal, and those prosecuted can be liable for hefty fines.