Greater Wellington Regional Council contracted, professional deer cullers will be hunting in East Harbour Regional, Northern Forest between 1st May and 26th May. Hunters will be only hunting when weather conditions are conducive to hunting. There will be 13 days of actual deer hunting in the period. No hunting will be undertaken on weekends, public holidays or school holidays. Hunting will on occasion be occurring at night. The East Harbour Regional Park website notices will be updated daily as the hunter communicates his plans to Jo at GWRC. Please feel free to text Jo 0274673076 if you are unsure.
Ospri Arial possum control – OSPRI undertook an aerial operation to target possums on 15 November 2022 see attached map. Cereal pellets containing the pesticide sodium fluoroacetate (1080) were applied. The bait is now non-toxic as of January 2023, however the caution period is still in place until carcasses have broken down (this can take up to 8 months after the date of application). For more information see Notices East harbour regional park.
Please report deer sightings – include date of sighting, species, number, specific location, activity and photos are always useful – contact Jo Greenman at 0274673076, (text is good) or jo.greenman@gw.govt.nz
Culling on Private land adjoining the East Harbour Regional park
Private land owners that currently do not have an arrangement with Greater Wellington Regional council can ask to be included. The GWRC contract allows culling on private land on a cost recovery basis. The cost will be $60 per hour of hunting time with a minimum of 3 hours. Written permission is required for the hunter to cross onto private land. There is no guarantee of shooting an animal. Contact Jo Greenman at 0274673076, or jo.greenman@gw.govt.nz – to discuss culling on private land.
Professional hunters with knowledge of the area and the skills required to operate in the sensitive environment are being employed by GWRC to hunt deer prone areas of the Northern Forest block for wild deer and signs of their presence.
Members of the public using the area will be advised to stay on the main sign-posted walking tracks and to keep dogs on leads. Warning signs erected at all park entrances will be used to notify the users of the area.
The culling is necessary to minimise the impact of deer on the ecological values of the forest, which has been identified as an area of high biodiversity value by GWRC’s Biodiversity department. Heavy browsing of favoured plant species by deer can eliminate individual native species from an area resulting in the loss of diversity and functionality of the forest ecosystem. Reducing wild deer numbers will assist GWRC in their efforts towards restoring the native ecosystem functions of the Northern Forest.