Ruapehu residents are urged to be on the lookout after the first wallaby in the region was discovered dead on Ongarue Waimiha Rd, on Sunday.
“The marsupial pest is destructive to farmland, crops and New Zealand’s native forests – with warnings they could cover one-third of the country in the next 50 years,” Horizons environmental manager Craig Davey said.
“We were alerted after a report was lodged via Biosecurity NZ’s wallaby reporting website. The wallaby, which was roadkill, was picked up on Monday. It was the first, dead or alive, to be recovered in our region. The person who reported it did the right thing.”
Horizons is using various surveillance techniques, including trained wallaby detector dogs, to see if there is an established wallaby population near where the dead wallaby was found, but Craig said community cooperation would be vital to prevent wallabies establishing a foothold in the region.
“As wallabies are nocturnal, we want anyone travelling at night in the area where the wallaby was found to report any sightings,” he said.
“People should look out for any wallaby signs, including droppings and footprints.
“The most common wallaby in the North Island, the dama wallaby, stands up to 50cm tall and weighs 4kg to 7kg. Their droppings are about 20mm long and tend to be pear-shaped, although there can be variability.”
Any sightings or signs should be reported to Biosecurity NZ, via www.reportwallabies.nz.
