The wallaby search programme around Flagstaff has come up with nothing so far, but the hunt will continue.
The Otago Regional Council released a statement yesterday saying it had not found any trace of the pests yet — but the search was set to continue into next year.
Operation Flagstaff began in early October around Flagstaff/Swampy Summit and is targeting a total of more than 8300ha, split across five separate blocks, to the north of Dunedin city.
Professional hunters are being contracted to search for wallabies and wallaby scat (faeces), which includes the use of dogs, drones and trail cameras.
Council project delivery specialist Gavin Udy said the wallaby operation had made good progress over the past month in searching the City Forests block for any wallaby presence.
"It’s crucial that the entire area is searched thoroughly to ensure any wallaby that are present are found and removed," he said.
"While none have been detected to date, or any other wallaby sign, finding wallaby in this landscape where very few are present is challenging," Mr Udy said.
Cr Kevin Malcolm is chairman of the Otago wallaby regional co-ordination group, part of the Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme, the latter funded and co-ordinated by Biosecurity New Zealand.
"Wallabies pose an immense threat to the sustainability of agriculture and the environment in general around Canterbury and Otago. We need to take this opportunity to ensure wallaby populations are eradicated."
Mr Udy said the search team’s efforts had primarily focused on searching animal game trails, as wallabies used these paths as natural travel corridors through the dense vegetation found in this area.
Over the next few weeks, the contractor team will look to complete their search of the 1566ha City Forests block and then start in the neighbouring 1005ha Silverstream block. — Allied Media
