Waitaki wallabies have spies in their midst in the hopes it will help hunters track down the invasive pest.

The Otago Regional Council (ORC) has completed its first surveillance operation after it released ten “seeker” or spy wallabies, fitted with satellite GPS collars, into sites in the Waitaki and Mackenzie districts last year.

The project marks a New Zealand-first in the fight against Bennett’s wallaby - an invasive introduced pest.

One of the 10 spies has travelled 42 kilometres from Canterbury into Otago and is still moving, ORC project delivery specialist - national programmes, Gavin Udy said.

The ORC is leading the project with support from Environment Canterbury and the Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme.

It is hoped the two-year research programme testing the usefulness of spy wallaby will provide a new tool in the battle against this fast-breeding pest.

Last week, ORC’s aerial hunting team located nine of the 10 spy wallabies, where they found and destroyed 18 others. 

The 10th ‘spy’ wallaby was not pursued as it was considered too close to nearby dwellings to hunt the area safely. 

This wallaby has moved an incredible 42km from its release site.

“While the results from this first hunt are encouraging, further hunts are still needed before we are able to fully assess whether this technique works,” Gavin said.

“This first run is about getting out there and locating and eliminating any other wallaby around the spy wallaby and testing our methodology, and then integrating any improvements identified into future hunts. 

“The first hunt went very successfully, and the team are looking forward to the next one in a month’s time,” he said.

The spy wallabies will continue to be monitored over the next 11 months to see if they lead the hunters to other wallabies, which will then be shot, leaving the seekers to continue to seek out more wallabies until no more can be found.

“Finding wallabies across large landscapes and difficult terrain where there are few present, is labour-intensive,” Gavin said.

“Any wallabies that go undetected allow small breeding populations to form and grow and become established over time. This is why it is critical that we develop new cost-effective tools to find wallabies in these environments.”

This method of pest control is common for feral goat and tahr control and if successful for wallaby, which are moderately sociable, it will make a significant difference to efforts to eradicate Bennett’s wallaby from Otago and South Canterbury, particularly in areas where there are very low wallaby numbers.

“Tipu Mātoro’s research programme is all about improving existing wallaby detection, surveillance, and control methods, and finding new ones to address the pest wallaby problem,” he said.

ORC is investing $110,000 over two years in the field work component of this research, the potential benefits of which will far exceed that investment in terms of protecting Otago from wallaby spread and the damage they do to native bush, farms, crops, commercial forestry, and our biodiversity.

As part of the research, the Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme is contributing an additional $100,000, while Environment Canterbury, is supporting the research through landowner consultation, DNA sampling and supplementary control work.

The research is being conducted under approved permits from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Animal Ethics Committee at Lincoln University, and permission granted by landowners to release the wallabies. 

There has been an increase in reports of wallaby sightings in the past year, which is positive, and people are urged to keep an eye out and report wallaby sightings, dead or alive, including kills. The more eyes on the ground the better to prevent wallabies becoming established in Otago, Gavin said. Sightings can be reported at reportwallabies.nz

The next hunt is planned for the week of February 19, weather dependent.