Can’t find hide nor hare of ‘wallaby’
An Australian pest, believed to have invaded Northland’s green bush, is likely to have been a case of mistaken identity.
But while the wallaby sighting is likely to have been a hare, Northland Regional Council is encouraging the public to report any potential sightings.
A member of the public had thought they spotted the Australian marsupial on Babylon Coast Rd, north of Dargaville, on May 1.
The person contacted the council on May 4 and biosecurity staff immediately swung into action, surveilling the area on May 5 and 9, and talking with residents.
None of the locals had seen any wallaby, but all pointed to the high number of large hares in the area, which could be mistaken for a wallaby, said the council’s biosecurity and biodiversity working party chairperson, Jack Craw.
‘‘No wallaby or signs of wallaby, including staff searches for scats, chewing and/or other signs, were observed during surveillance,’’ he said.
Craw said sightings of what could be wallaby in Northland are taken very seriously, and no one should be embarrassed if a report turns out to be a false alarm. ‘‘Forty-nine out of 50 reports might be false alarms – but that one time can let us eradicate the species before it gets a chance to breed.’’
Wallabies may look like cute little kangaroos but they breed quickly and are vigorous eaters – chomping through native and exotic seedlings as well as pasture.
Craw describes them as a ground possum, eating every seedling, and potentially spreading tuberculosis.
Wallabies are established on Kawau Island in north Auckland, where their impact is evident, he said.
‘‘Kawau Island is an absolute tragedy. Except for areas where individual landowners have fenced them out, the only things that grows there are mosses and poisonous plants like lantana – it’s quite tragic.’’
While there are no known wallaby populations in Northland, there’s always the potential that they could be illegally released, Craw said.
The creatures are also established in Rotorua Lakes area, South Canterbury and North Otago due to illegal releases, with the larger Bennett’s wallaby released in the South Island for hunting, he said.
They have also been spotted in Waikato and Upper Hutt.
Left unchecked, pest wallabies could cover a third of New Zealand within 50 years.
Wallabies are classified as an unwanted organism in New Zealand under the Biosecurity Act and a $27 million national eradication programme was established in 2020.
The latest unsuccessful search
‘‘Forty-nine out of 50 reports might be false alarms – but that one time can let us eradicate the species before it gets a chance to breed.’’
Jack Craw
comes four years after a similar wallaby sighting in South Hokianga.
Up to a dozen staff and contractors from the council, Department of Conservation and Te Roroa iwi hunted through more than 500ha of privately owned farmland and native bush, but no traces of the mystery animal were found.
In November, Auckland Council used a thermal imaging drone to search Long Bay Regional Park in search of a wallaby but, again, no traces were found.
Members of the public should report any potential wallaby sightings to reportwallabies.nz.