Alan Gibson/Stuff
Hunting pest wallabies is often done at night. (File photo)
Aucklanders are warned not to go to Kawau Island at night – otherwise they could be shot.
Professional hunters with rifles and thermal imaging equipment have been deployed to the island in the Gulf of Hauraki in an effort to eradicate pests, including wallabies.
The little kangaroo-like creatures were introduced to the island around 1870 by then-Governor Sir George Grey.
The Kawau Island Historic Reserve is closed to the public until August 6 “during the dark hours” and signs have been posted on the island warning of hunting.
READ MORE:
* Last 1080 drop leaves the future of the forest park uncertain
* Call to ban pig hunters from regional park, to protect kauri trees
* Weapons in the High Country: The Station’s Stalemate with the Department of Conservation
Senior ranger Emma Kearney said there was a risk of accidental injury from ricochet or people unexpectedly entering the firing range.
Chris McKeen / Stuff
Auckland Council searches for a suspected wallaby in a North Shore park.
A DOC spokesperson said hunters would be free to use whatever firearms they deemed “most effective for certain hunting situations.”
The hunting operation is coordinated by the Pohutukawa Trust New Zealand and its contractors.
Trust chairman Carl Weaver said that since culling efforts got off to a good start in the 2000s, the number of wallabies had dropped from about 5,000 to hundreds.
He expected the two-week shutdown period would have a significant impact on the remaining number of pest marsupials.
Alan Gibson/Stuff
A hunter uses a gun to hunt wallabies. (File photo)
Although wallabies are partially nocturnal, Weaver said they hunted at night because thermal imaging equipment worked better in the dark.
This made it easier for hunters to distinguish between wallaby and native weka.
The trust was established in 1992 by Kawau landowners who wanted to protect pohutukawa trees that were threatened by pests.
It has captured live wallabies and returned them to Australia where the brush-tailed wallaby population is under threat.
According to DOC, wallabies graze on leaf litter and seedlings, which prevents native shrubs from regenerating on the island.
The effort to eradicate wallabies is part of a $4.85 million project led by the Pohutukawa Trust, Auckland Council, DOC and Ngāti Manuhiri.
It received $1.3 million in funding from the Wildlife Fund jobs in 2021. It was claimed that the project would create 23 jobs.