Council responds to possible wallaby sightings in the Marlborough Sounds

There have been three reported sightings of wallabies in Marlborough since July last year, but follow-ups by the council have found no evidence the pest is in the region.

The Marlborough District Council received a report about a suspected wallaby sighting on the Link Pathway above Ngākuta Bay in July last year.

A second report was received about a possible sighting in Te Hoiere/Pelorus Sound in January, and a third report of a possible sighting in central Picton came through in early February, but for a sighting that happened earlier in January.

Introduced from Australia in the 1870s, wallabies are common in parts of South Canterbury, Otago and Bay of Plenty, but their reach is growing. They are considered a pest as they eat native plants and tree seedlings, while also competing with livestock for pasture.​

Marlborough District Council biosecurity manager Jono Underwood said the cases were investigated thoroughly, and the Ngākuta Bay and Te Hoiere/Pelorus Sound reports were of particular concern.

In the case of the Ngākuta Bay sighting, the council undertook ground hunting, but there was no sign of the wallabies. Camera traps were also placed, but there was still no sighting.

Rotorua pest controller Pete Peeti and his apprentice Tiki Tahana-Worrall spend many nights shooting wallabies, which are out of control in the area.

​The council also investigated whether to use thermal imagery from a drone, however this was deemed ineffective as the area had thick bush cover.

Meanwhile, following the Te Hoiere/Pelorus Sound sighting, a response was “stood up immediately”. Ground hunting, additional cameras, and neighbouring landowner cameras were also used as part of that response.

The council said it conducted an interview with the informant and neighbouring landowners, but believed it was unlikely to be a wallaby.

“There was no evidence whatsoever, so we’ve had to put those down as unconfirmed reports,” Underwood said.

“In those scenarios it’s more than likely another animal, whether that be a young goat, or a large hare.”

He said the council wanted to keep wallabies out of the region.

A dead wallaby was found on State Highway 63, near St Arnaud in the upper Wairau Valley in 2016, which at the time raised concerns hunters might be trying to kick-start a wallaby population. There had never been an established wallaby population in Marlborough before.

“Even in Marlborough we’ve had incidents of people bringing hand-raised young joeys back from South Canterbury that think it's a good idea to raise as a pet,” Underwood said.

“But all it would take is for that to escape and find a second one, and we could have one of the more devastating additional pests out in our beautiful South Marlborough high country where the Bennett's wallabies would certainly do very, very well.

“They would certainly add to the pressure on a lot of the ecosystems out there, that are already under a bit of pressure with the likes of goats, and deer and the like.”

Meanwhile, he said northern Marlborough was “very, very susceptible” to the dama wallaby, found on the North Island.

“Admittedly someone would have to bring it across the Cook Strait, but if that for whatever reason got into the Marlborough Sounds, that would go gang busters as well.

“So we just really don’t want them ... hence we respond very quickly if anyone reports them.”

Monitoring of both Te Hoiere Pelorus Sound and central Picton was expected to continue.

Wallabies are listed as an Unwanted Organism under the Biosecurity Act, and it is illegal to have, hold, move or transport wallabies in New Zealand without a specific permit.

Underwood said anyone with a suspected wallaby sighting should contact the council, or at reportwallabies.nz.

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