First stage of Outer Queen Charlotte ungulate control completed

The Trust has recently led a second large operation to control wild deer and goats that have been destroying the Sounds bush.

In the area from Endeavour Inlet to Cape Jackson, a total of 808 goats and 245 deer were removed during May and June, through a combination of aerial and ground hunting.

The removal of more than 1,100 feral animals is going to have an enormous beneficial impact in allowing native forest succession to continue and to reduce the impacts on bach gardens and infrastructure.

It was a real team effort. Endeavour Inlet Conservation Trust played a major role in funding and mobilising the operation. The contractors - Trap & Trigger Ltd, Coast to Coast Helicopters Ltd and Marlborough Helicopters Ltd - delivered an excellent job. Kenny Barging provided in-kind barging support. DOC provided funding, a ground hunting team and assisted with boat transport and logistics. Marlborough District Council was also a strong financial supporter through its Working for Nature and Significant Natural Areas programmes. And, of course, many landowners have supported the project on their properties, granting access permission and making donations.

We were also able to recover a good amount of meat – this has primarily been distributed through EICT and Ngati Kuia, and it is very gratifying to be able to help out families as best we are able through this operation.

We’re not yet finished though. The contractors will return in spring to do some mop-up work, using the remaining project budget and the Trust will prepare a full report after the project has been completed.

“What we are doing is a population reset,” says Trust programme manager, Andrew Macalister. “We are trying to get the populations of deer and goats down from those really high and damaging numbers that they've got to, to a level where they are not destroying the forest and, hopefully to a level where recreational hunters can manage the population into the future.”