An Auckland Council plan to eradicate wallabies on Kawau Island has drawn both cheers and jeers from residents and property owners who are deeply divided over the issue.
The wallabies were introduced to Kawau by former Governor of New Zealand Sir George Grey around 1870, along with a variety of other exotic birds and animals, including zebra.
While many of the introduced species failed to survive, the wallabies thrived and have successfully fended off previous attempts to eradicate them.
Wallabies are blamed for destroying native forests and associated bird life, and competing with farm animals for food.
Previous wallaby eradication attempts have been predominantly private landowner initiatives. But Council’s Proposed Regional Pest Management plan calls for a multi-agency coordinated approach, involving Council, the Department of Conservation, the Rodney Local Board and the wider community to trap and poison wallabies.
In addition, the plan calls for monitoring of key risk areas to determine the presence of new infestations and enforce restrictions on the sale, breeding, distribution or exhibition of wallabies.
However, the plan says eradication of wallabies alone will create an advantage for competing pests such as rats, possums and stoats. Hence, it calls for the eradication of these pests alongside the wallabies.
Kawau Island Advisory Committee chair Lin Pardey says wallabies are a contentious issue on the island, with many islanders valuing the wallabies as part of the island’s history and noting they hold a fascination for children and visitors.
Ms Pardey estimates about 20 per cent of islanders would like to see the wallabies retained, about 30 per cent are indifferent, and about 50 per cent are vehemently against the wallabies and are already heavily involved in trapping and shooting them.
Among those wanting the wallabies to stay is Auckland lawyer Colin Bright who owns a bach on the island.
Mr Bright describes the push to eradicate wallabies as “sad”, saying their much-reduced numbers mean they now pose a minimal environmental threat.
He adds that two of the wallaby species that survive on Kawau are becoming rare in Australia and efforts are being made to protect them over there.
“We are actually classifying as a pest, something which is classed in Australia as vulnerable,” he says.
Mr Bright believes wallabies may in fact promote the survival of native birds, such as the kiwi, brown teal and weka, by eliminating vegetation which provides cover for predators such as rats, stoats, cats and dogs.
However, Kawau property manager David Wylie strongly supports the Council push for eradication.
Mr Wylie manages an 800ha owned by family firm Zakara Investments Limited.
The family wants to return the property to native bush as an exercise in conservation and preservation, but fresh seedlings are quickly eaten by wallabies.
Mr Wylie says the property takes part in a wallaby eradication programme promoted by the Pohutukawa Trust, which is aiming to rehabilitate the native flora and fauna of Kawau Island.
In addition to poisoning, contract shooters are employed two or three times a year to keep wallaby numbers down.
Mr Wylie says such efforts have led to a noticeable decrease in wallaby numbers and an associated resurgence in native bush.
However, the effort is costly. Mr Wylie estimates the largest landowners on Kawau will spend a combined total of around $200,000 a year on keeping wallaby numbers down.
But he says without such efforts, wallabies will continue to “breed like rabbits” and their numbers will soar.
He adds some islanders sympathetic to wallabies actually feed the animals, which “does not help the situation”.
Mr Wylie says if people want to retain wallabies for their historical reasons then “that’s fine”, but they cannot hope to also retain native birds and trees.
Public submissions on Council’s proposed Regional Pest Management Plan closed on March 28. A Council project team is currently analysing the feedback received and will publish a summary of the feedback on the Council website.
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/topics-you-can-have-your-say-on/regional-pest-management-plan/Pages/default.aspx
