Expensive pet food!
OPINION: Your canine crusader was staggered to learn that an investigation by the Taxpayers' Union has revealed that taxpayers and Otago ratepayers have forked out more than $2.76 million to kill just... 18 wallabies!
OSPRI teamed up with DOC in the Blue Mountains, as part of the Battle for our Birds campaign.
Stoat numbers “fell dramatically: monitoring by tracking tunnels showed stoats at undetectable levels (0%) compared to 38% in November last year prior to the aerial pest kill operation”.
Tracking results also showed rats and mice had dropped to 0% in the treatment area from rates of 10% and 30%, respectively, says Brent Rohloff, OSPRI’s southern South Island programme manager.
The Blue Mountains is a TB risk area, where infected wild animals have been found.
“The Blue Mountains operation shows we have the skills and capability to stamp out TB in wild animals and [support] biodiversity gains,” says Rohloff.
DOC spokeswoman Ros Cole said the TBfree operation was welcomed at a time when DOC was busy with other Battle for our Birds pest control work in the South Island.
