Hunters, DOC and Govt work to bring down wild goat populations

The second nationwide wild goat culling competition kicked off at the start of this month, aimed at reducing goat numbers and the damage they cause to the environment.

The competition organised by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association runs from August 1 until November 26, and during last years' competition hunters nabbed 10,000 feral goats.

Organisers hoped to double that figure this year, as an estimated hundreds of thousands of wild goats covered roughly 15% of the country.

Speaking to 1News from a forestry block in the Western Ridges above Upper Hutt, Trevor Gratton from the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association said the animals are classed as a pest and "love" eating farmers pastures and destroying native plants.

"It's like a supermarket, particularly when there's new planting and seedlings going in. They love that sort of thing, that's what they survive on. That's why we are working with the forestry owners to try and get access in a safe, ethical manner so we can help them get these goat numbers down."

"A lot of these forestry blocks border with DOC land, with regional council land and other open spaces, so the goats will migrate. They'll jump fences, they'll go left and right. They don't care about boundaries."

He said there were "a lot of hoops to jump through" from a health, safety and insurance standpoint, as he said some forestry blocks were owned offshore.

"So it's a matter of getting access to these private landholdings, as well as working with DOC and regional councils to get safe access to those places as well."

Federated Farmers' Richard McIntyre wanted the Government to invest in more pest control.

"The number of pests that we have on DOC estate or farmland are compounding at the moment and they will continue to do so," he said.

Hunting and Fishing Minister Todd McClay was not committed to any extra money, instead wanting to focus on partnerships with other agencies to control the populations.

"It's not a funding issue, it's about how we use the funding we have. There's about $30 million set aside in the budget a few years ago over four years, and I'm very keen to use that to the very best of our ability before we consider and seek more money."

McClay said there was about 1.2 million Kiwis who regularly hunted and fished recreationally in New Zealand, which was why those people deserved a "dedicated voice" within Government.

"Although we are asking for the goodwill of hunters, it's a two-way street. In return we're going to fix the relationship so that their concerns and interests are better recognised and how they can get better access to the DOC estate … which helps keep the goat population down."

"I'm keen to see how we best use that to create a system and co-operation with landowners, with farmers, with hunters and the department so we can get wild animal numbers under control," he said.

DOC operations director Ben Reddiex said all agencies had a "role to play" in successful wild animal management.

He said there was an "ongoing funding available to continue deer management and goat control throughout the country", with more than $8 million spent per year alongside other work.

"The department alongside private landowners and, in this case, recreational hunters can really contribute to help us manage where wild animal numbers are too high."

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