'We are not on top of it': Over 400 goats killed on Remutaka Hill Road to control Wellington population
Data released by Greater Wellington Regional Council shows over the past five years there have been between 290 and nearly 600 goats culled annually in the region. Photo / 123RF
More than 400 feral goats were shot on Remutaka Hill Road earlier this year in a bid to keep the pests from running rampant in the Wellington region.
In the past five years there have been between 290 and nearly 600 goats culled annually in the region, data released by Greater Wellington Regional Council shows.
The highest number, 596, were killed in 2020.
The work is done to protect native forests and ecosystems from the harm goats cause by eating plantlife in the region. They also have an impact on erosion of land.
One of the biggest goat culling operations in the region happened in May.
The Remutaka Hill Road was shut down for an hour between Mondays and Thursday each week during the month to shoot goats both on the ground and by helicopter.
The operation seems to be a success, Department Of Conservation Wairarapa biodiversity supervisor Briggs Pilkington said.
"We are certainly getting less reports of people seeing goats on the road but it is a piece of work they'd like to continue annually for some time."
Pilkington said he'd like to see more funding go into the work.
"The more money that can be thrown at it, the better job we will do at reducing goat numbers and the lower you get them of course the slower they'll breed back up.
"Having higher numbers means they can breed pretty easily and they can potentially triple their numbers in 18 months."
He said it's unlikely they'll be able to get rid of the pests completely from the region any time soon.
"It certainly isn't something the department could resource. Eradication is a pretty significant job to be doing, especially over large forested areas.
"For example, the Tararua Forest Park is 140,000ha – to eradicate goats from such a large area we would need to invest probably millions of dollars into that."
Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Thomas Nash told the Herald feral goats are a big problem not just in the Wellington region but across New Zealand.
"They're essentially killing our native forests, preventing them from regenerating and we need to get on top of it ... we are not on top of it yet.
"If we want to get goat populations and deer populations down to a level where they are not causing damage to our ecosystems then we are going to need all the agencies – regional councils, DOC, land owners to get together and make a plan ... and get some funding."
He said the pests have a big impact on climate change too.
"In terms of getting our emissions down and solving our climate problem we're relying on native forests to help absorb some of the carbon – we simply won't be able to do that if those native forests aren't able to establish themselves."
Greater Wellington Regional Council catchment management general manager Wayne O'Donnell said they mainly control goats in very large forest areas in the region.
He said sites are always subject to migration from surrounding land which may not receive feral goat control.
"Goats are an invasive pest and with limited funding across such broad terrain, our control is keeping numbers at a level where we are dealing with the reinvasion from the surrounding land.
"If this reinvasion wasn't present then we would be confident in our ability to make inroads into the population."
Goat populations are maintained at low levels where their effect on native plant regeneration can be kept to a minimum. Areas where goats frequently graze are also targeted O'Donnell said.