May 14, 2018
Wallaby loose in Waimamaku
Northland iwi Te Roroa, the Department of Conservation and Northland Regional Council are on the hunt for wallaby spotted on a south Hokianga farm.
The search has been joined by two specially trained biosecurity dogs.
Northland Regional Council biosecurity manager Kane McElrea says wallabies could be more of a threat to Northland than possums because they eat native and exotic seedlings and pasture and can limit the regeneration of some species.
It's possible the Australian natives were illegally liberated from the central North Island or Kawau Island, where they have been for 150 years.
Mr McElrea says the Waimamaku landowner did not initially realise the seriousness of the sighting.
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