Tracker fitted wallabies tasked to seek out bands of the rogue pest in the South Canterbury wilderness

Wallabies at Lake Okataina Outdoor Centre. Photo / Andrew Warner

The war on wallabies continues, with the Otago Regional Council taking a novel approach to track the fast-breeding destructive species.

The council has released 10 ‘seeker’ wallabies into the South Canterbury wilds, with the hopes they seek out other groups or individuals to be shot by a team of hunters.

Using ‘seeker’ animals against wallabies is a New Zealand first, though they have previously been successfully implemented in tracking numbers of feral goats, tahr and wild pigs.

The wallabies were transported to the release sites by Heliventures, from Oamaru airport. Photo / Supplied

Over the next 12 months, the double-agent wallabies will be monitored by the hunting team and any fellow wallaby found will by shot by the hunters, with the seeker wallaby left to continue to seek out more until no more individuals can be found.

Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme science lead Travis Ashcroft said as far as he was aware, the technique had not been used for wallabies anywhere in the world.

He said if succesful, the technique could make a significant difference to efforts to eradicate Bennett’s Wallaby from Otago and South Canterbury, particularly in areas where there were low wallaby numbers.

He said 12 wallabies were captured with ground nets and taken to an approved containment facility in Canterbury where they were de-sexed and evaluated to ensure they were in good health before being released.

While public reported sightings increased in 2023 over 2022, he said this was likely based on the fact there was more public awareness around wallabies in New Zealand.

Project Manager Brent Barrett (Boffa Miskell) releases the collared wallaby. Photo / Supplied

In 2022 there were 327 reported sightings, compared with 550 this year.

“A lot of people in New Zealand don’t even know that wallabies even exist here, so the more we get the message out there, the more reports we’re going to receive,” he said.

ORC’s project delivery specialist - National Programmes Gavin Udy said he hoped the Otago Regional Council in collaboration with Environment Canterbury and the Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme 2-year research programme testing the usefulness of seeker wallaby would provide a new tool in the battle the fast-breeding pest.

Project Manager Brent Barrett (Boffa Miskell) releases a collared wallaby. Photo / Supplied

“Wallabies across large landscapes and difficult terrain where there are few present, is labour intensive.

“Any wallabies that go undetected allow small breeding populations to form and grow and become established over time. This is why it is critical that we develop new cost-effective tools to find wallabies in these environments.”

ORC has invested $110,000 over two years in the field work component of this research, though it is expected the potential benefits will exceed the costs of protecting Otago from wallaby spread and the damage done to native bush, farms, crops, commercial forestry and biodiversity.

According to research done by MPI, it is predicted that the economic benefit to the South Island by controlling the wallabies is over $23.5 million every year.

The Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme is contributing an additional $100,000, while Environment Canterbury supports the research through landowner consultation, DNA sampling and supplementary control work.

Bennett’s wallaby were introduced to South Canterbury in 1874, becoming a significant pest by 1940s with three wallabies considered to equalling one stock unit.