DOC pays tribute to pair killed in Wanaka helicopter crash
Scott ‘‘Scotty’’ Theobald was a conservation pioneer, a worldleader in predator detection, but was modest in his success. His is a life that will become one of New Zealand’s best conservation stories that needs to be told, remembered and honoured.
From the kauri forests of the far north, to the South Island high country, to most of our offshore protected islands and work overseas in Japan, the UK, Australia and New Caledonia, Theobald led conservation from the front, with an ease and professionalism that inspired others.
He changed the way we do conservation, both in Aotearoa and overseas. He developed the conservation dog programme, which plays a pivotal role today in predator-control work.
Theobald knew predators, their behaviours, and had a great grasp of dogs, hunting and how the bush worked.
A born hunter, he started with the Department of Conservation in October 1995 as a trapper at the Waipoua Field Centre, with his attention focused on Trounson Kauri Park and Mataraua Forest, in his home of Northland.
He was already widely known around Northland for his pig-hunting ability, and working with DOC opened up the opportunity for him to excel.
After a couple of years in that trapping role, he was appointed in February 1998 to a permanent position based at the Kerikeri-Waipoua Field Centre. Trounson remained part of his territory and it was there in 1998 that he first started his pioneering work with dogs.
His first success came with a fox terrier named Mick that he trained to sniff out mustelids – ferrets, stoats and weasels – and Mick wasn’t too bad at finding wild cats, either. Before long, Theobald had a second dog, named Tui,
trained to specialise in finding mustelids.
With seven years of innovative and excellent conservation work to his credit, he was transferred to the Kauri Coast Area Office at Dargaville and the role of ranger (predator dogs), all the while overseeing the training and development of new dog handlers among DOC staff and an increasing number of dogs being trained in conservation work.
Many of the dogs used in conservation work today trace their lineage back to Mick and Tui, and the breeding programmes Theobald developed.
Over the years, Theobald had been involved in the conservation efforts of countries around the world.
He was recognised internationally for his work training, certifying, providing advice or breeding dogs to the Falklands, Tasmania, New Caledonia, Macquarie Island and Japan, where he was regarded as a bit of a celebrity in conservation circles.
In New Zealand he was involved in many workshops with DOC staff where he was able to mentor other dog handlers and pass on his vast knowledge. All the while he set exacting standards for others to reach and maintain, and was always searching for ways to improve his own abilities and techniques.
Since May 2015, Theobald had been based at DOC’s Twizel district office, still chasing down wild animals and pests that are detrimental to our native biodiversity.
As well as being a legendary hunter, he was also very generous with his distribution of wild game meat to marae and local communities in need.
He also had rare talents in speaking to school groups and firing up their imagination with his own down-to-earth explanation of why working for conservation was so important.
Scott Theobald was 59. He is survived by his wife Adriana, children Jacinta Cronje, Nathan and Conrad Theobald, and grandchildren Hugo and Louis Cronje.