Unwanted dogs, ignorant owners threaten wildlife at Ruatiti Domain
Ruatiti Domain in the Ruapehu district has been busy over the summer months, but a particular type of visitor is making a regular appearance, despite being banned.
Dogs are not permitted between the start of December and the end of April because of the breeding season of the blue duck (whio), but the domain’s caretaker, Bruce Sandford, said people still insisted on bringing them.
“They sneak them in their cars and caravans, and they don’t seem to understand that we’ve got a lot of whio around, and kiwi, which we’ve got back in the domain again after many years.
“If people keep bringing their dogs, we’ll lose them [the birds] again.”
Dogs are permitted on the site for the other seven months of the year, but must be kept on a lead.
Sandford said some owners he had encountered claimed to be conservationists but, in reality, they didn’t “give a damn”.
“I haven’t really got the power to do anything. I’m only the caretaker down there and I just try to keep the place as tidy as I can.
“People have been doing it for years, but this last Christmas seemed to be the worst.”
Twelve whio, raised in captivity at Pūkaha Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre in the Wairarapa and Orana Wildlife Park and Peacock Springs Wildlife Park near Christchurch, were released into Manganui O Te Ao River at Ruatiti in 2014.
The presence of a dog ranger recently hadn’t seemed to have much of an impact, Sandford said.
“We were lucky this year with whio. There were three families nesting down by the swimming area, and there were seven chicks altogether. People turn around and say their dogs have been trained for kiwi and things like that, but if they’re running loose around the place, who’s to know?”
The ranger had camped at Ruatiti for a week over the Christmas-New Year period and spoke to a lot of people staying there with dogs, a Ruapehu District Council spokesman said.
“It turned out to be a mix of locals and people from out of the area.
“What we are looking to do to simplify things is to change the policy and just have a dog ban all year.
“That has still got to go through council.”
The council had received no formal complaints about the dog situation as yet, he said.
Whanganui resident David Russell, who has been camping at Ruatiti for about 30 years, said this summer season had been one of the worst in terms of general behaviour.
It wasn’t just dogs causing a problem, he said.
“Usually, when people get the rules explained to them, they will abide by them. This time around it was different.
“The caretaker actually planted an empty section with native trees and put a row of boulders across to stop people going in there. What does a group do? They roll the boulders aside and drive their cars in there, squashing everything.
“They were planted for everyone’s benefit.”