The wallabies are coming.
No, not the ones carrying a rugby ball, who often seem to give the All Blacks a fright.
The ones causing growing concern in Otago are of the Australian hopping variety, which now occupy more than 300,000ha of land in South Canterbury.
The Otago Regional Council will today consider a report recommending a ''comprehensive pro-active wallaby incursion response'' following concerns raised with councillors in January about the rising number of reports and killings of the pests outside containment areas, south of the Waitaki river.
Following reports of the animals in Naseby Forest, Herbert Forest, and of a truck killing one at Evansdale, near Waitati, in 2012, council chairman Stephen Woodhead warned if action was not taken now, the council would be ''really regretful'' in a decade.
Wallabies were seen near Naseby late last year, and council environmental monitoring and operations manager Jeff Donaldson said wallabies were now coming into the region through the Hawkdun Range.
Council chief executive Peter Bodeker said little money or resources had been put aside for wallaby control in the upcoming annual and long-term plans.
Councillors requested the report on the situation, which will be tabled in Dunedin today.
It says Otago has a ''real opportunity to stop this pest at the border and prevent the establishment of feral populations'' in the region, with efforts including a ''comprehensive communications and awareness campaign''.
