Bungling Hunters Given Green Light For Cull Accidentally Kill Rare Birds Instead
The department has put an immediate halt to the cull as it investigates both its internal processes and the program with the deerstalkers’ association, which it says is “cooperating fully” with its inquiries.
DOC confirmed this morning an examination of the dead birds on the island sanctuary early this week showed they were killed by shotgun pellets.
The hunters apparently mistook the takahe for pukeko, and the shooting is seen as significant as only 270 takahe remain and they’re classified as critically endangered.
“It’s a deeply disappointing mistake”, said the Department of Conservation in a statement.
The takahe is distantly related to pukeko, leading to its similar looks and characteristics.
The hunters were carefully briefed on how to tell the difference between them, including instructions to only shoot birds on the wing, he said.
The National President of the New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association (NZDA) is “appalled” that four protected takahe were shot on an organised cull targeting pukekos.
President Bill O’Leary said a Department of Conservation investigation would prove one or more of his association’s members killed the birds during a hunt on Motutapu Island, north of Auckland. The conservation department has since invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in rebuilding the population, with its public-private recovery program aiming to establish 125 breeding pairs by 2002.
“Guidelines introduced after an incident on Mana Island seven years ago when another takahe was mistakenly shot during a pukeko cull were also used during last week’s cull”.
It is not the first time the endangered takahe has been the victim of mistaken identity and come into the cross hairs of those supposedly out to protect the species.
There are only about 300 takahe birds left in the world, and the species was thought to be extinct as late as 1948, Radio New Zealand reports.