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Naenae resident Ali Dennis woke up to find a large stag in his backyard. In Upper Hutt they have been spotted in Silverstream and in large numbers in Whitemans Valley. Taylor believes a solution cannot come quick enough. He is kept awake at night by stags roaring and is concerned that someone will get hurt. He said locals think it is funny to roar back at the stags but if they are attacked, it will not be so funny One person with first-hand notice knowledge of how dangerous stags can be is Ali Dennis, who also lives in Naenae. Although he lives about 750 metres from the nearest bush, he was woken in May 2020 by a sound he did not recognise.
Conservation community in shock at loss of 'driving force' Colin Ryder nzherald.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nzherald.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) operations director Dan Harrison told Tuesday's meeting that the council had begun a 10-year rural mustelid trapping programme in 2018 as part of the Towards Predator-Free Taranaki project. Towards Predator-Free Taranaki is working to eradicate possums over 4500ha from the Kaitake Ranges to the coastline, and has an urban project trapping rats. The programme has so far covered 75,000ha with more than 6000 traps, and included a trap barrier around the national park Te Papakura o Taranaki resulting in a 90 per cent reduction in mustelid populations, he said. Harrison said the new rule will identify predator control areas where landowners agree to set traps and maintain mustelid numbers at a reduced level.
Now more beaches may be subject to similar action. Every summer, New Zealanders take to the beach to bask in the sun and enjoy the warm weather. For some a summer tradition is to take their car for a joy-ride on one of the country's long beaches. However, this joy-riding comes at a cost. According to the Ministry of Transport, between 2013 and 2017, there were 75 car crashes on beaches, with nine people killed and 47 seriously injured. In 2018, two beach goers were killed in separate incidents, including one case where a drunk Auckland teenager was doing donuts on a beach and rolled his ute, killing a 17-year-old.
Geary said there was a need to control feral cats to prevent the spread of toxoplasmosis in marine environments, and bovine tuberculosis among cattle. Toxoplasmosis, which is spread by cat faeces entering waterways, is understood to be the primary cause of deaths of the rare Maui's and Hector dolphin along the North Island’s west coast. Forest and Bird’s submission along with others from, Te Atiawa, Ngāruahine iwi, New Plymouth and South Taranaki district councils, Federated Farmers, and two members of the public will be discussed at the TRC’s policy and planning meeting on Tuesday. Geary said since 2003 between 50 and 170 cats annually have been trapped by volunteers involved in a conservation programme to protect kiwi at Mangamingi, South Taranaki.