Pest
WALLABIES
Macropus Protemnodon
INTRO
The humble wallaby loved in Australia and hated in New Zealand. We have 2 types of wallaby here we have the Dama ( North Island) and the Bennett's ( South Island ). They are really bad for the environment and to your pocket. If you find a wallaby it legally has to be put down and it is illegal to move or release them in the wild. They are mostly found around the lakes of Rotorua where they are destroying the bush. One person in 2008 said they saw a wallaby hopping across their backyard and that is not the only one, there was one in Bethlehem where they saw it on the road and one of the pest control experts said “ it would have had to be a pet” if not it is not good at all that they are encroaching on urban parts of the bay of plenty. This is a real problem and this inquiry looks into the ways to stop the humble wallaby.
How long do they live for?
In the wild, a healthy wallaby can live for around 9 years. They have 1 baby a year which is called a "joey" so in a female's life they can give birth to over 8 babies with their babies being about the size of a bee. Some people have them as pets and they can live up to 16-17 in the zoos if properly looked after. In general, they are about 8-9 when they die of natural causes, that is if they survive the hunters that are out to kill them..
SIZE AND SPEED
A large wallaby can cruise at 25km pretty easily and can hit a max speed of 48km. Compared to humans that walk at 4.98km and the world record is 45.06 but some new research would put us way in front of the wallaby. Some new studies show that we could hit a top speed of 64km which is as fast as a tiger but that all depends if our muscles can move that quick. For most people running at 25km for an extended period of time would be very hard but the reason the wallaby can is it has really big legs and tail. This is what I thought; when a wallaby runs or hops it does it off two legs and we only do it off one. Running/hopping off two legs would be really hard for us because they have a massive tail to keep them up when at high speeds. In terms of height, the wallaby is not as strong depending on the species they can be from 30cm to 1.8 meters tall.
How they arrived
The first wallabies came to New Zealand in 1873. They were introduced because the governor of New Zealand at the time thought that it would be a good idea to bring a bunch of wild and exotic animals over (including wallabies.) They are now destroying our native wildlife. Because the wallabies were such a dominant species, a lot of the wildlife brought over didn’t survive partly from wallabies destroying adequate habitat and also because New Zealand didn’t provide suitable places for them to live in the first place. So now the ones that did survive have become pests and are causing the department of conservation a lot of trouble.
What is wrong?
If you say to most people in New Zealand what are wallabies doing to our native bush they will say “ we have wallabies? “. Most people know that rabbits are pests but if you have wallabies on your land rabbits are the least of your problem. Wallabies are fast moving and if put under hunting pressure for a long time they will become smarter and move more at night and they can eat far more than a rabbit. The main reason they are a pest is they are eating lots of our native bush and with a lack of fresh vegetation they go for more seeds and bush. There are a great deal of reasons that this is bad. First this means there is less food for the birds that live on the ground like the kiwi. It doesn't really affect the bird that can fly because they can eat the seeds at the top of the tree. Secondly they are eating the grass that the sheep and cows eat. If you are a sheep farmer and you have wallabies the sheep will not go where the wallabies have been. This can be bad for the ground. The sheep will eat too much in one area and not the other. They are a really big problem and if we do not do anything they could be the possum of the 21th century.
What are we doing to stop them?
Shooting is the most effective and popular way to get them especially in the night time when they’re active. If you do somehow manage to shoot a wallaby you can eat it. The meat is (apparently) lean and can be made into quite a good tasting curry. Repellents (to make plants unattractive,) traps (check legal requirements,) and bait stations with poison (don’t eat if killed this way) are all effective ways to control the wallaby population in New Zealand. If you own land to make sure you have a good fence around your property to avoid infestation.
These are all things you could do but they don't necessarily get done, because how many people say that they're going to go off wallaby hunting for the weekend? no one! Or not many at least.
The Department of Conservation is doing their part using dogs to track down wallabies. We need to be doing our part which is spending weekends and free time wallaby hunting.
Dogs
For small groups of wallabies dogs are the best thing. They like to use german shorthaired pointers and terriers. The wallabies like to be in the shrubs and it is a lot easier to send a little dog in and push them out, then get them with a gun.
We got to have a chat with Guus Knoppers one of the dog trainers and he said “ the thought of getting rid of them is good but it is a long term goal for New Zealand” and he does not think that they are under the cover of predator free by 2050 but at the rate we are going at we could be close to that.
Heat seeking cameras
This may seem way over the top and you are probably thinking $#!+ I didn’t realise they were international criminals. No they are not wanted for murder in 12 different countries but they are wanted for destruction of property here. Wallabies are really good at being invisible and one second you can see them and the next you can't see them. With the help of helicopters you can cover lots more ground than a man and dog by foot. They go at night when they are most active and they stand out like a sore thumb. There are a lot cheaper ways to help to rid New Zealand of wallabies than using heat seeking cameras.
WHAT THEY LIKE TO EAT?
During the day they like to be in the bush and foraging for their food and as soon as it gets dark they like to be in big open spaces where they can look around for predators. In New Zealand, they do not have any predators so they are just going crazy. Around the lakes of Rotorua, well there is not much of that there so what are they eating? And that is why I think they are eating all of our native bush because that is the closest thing to fresh grass and veggies so I think if we had more stuff for them to eat then we would not have this problem. That does not mean they are not a problem.
THE FOOD WEB
In Australia, wallabies are kept under control by the natural predators, like the dingo and wild cats but here they have no predators to keep them under control.
I think we have taken a good road to try and get them out of the wild but that road has some bumps like we are not the best at finding them. We have cameras but I think we should just go out and try to find them like the old days. The wallabies we have in New Zealand are the Dama and Bennett’s. Bennett's wallabies are known to be the most docile, while the Dama is known to be more anxious.
Self-defence
A wallaby does not have big fangs or venom that will make you see God but they have one thing that will make you take a step back. From a photo of a wallaby, you can tell that the largest muscle in a wallaby is the quad ( which is the muscle that sits between the groin and your knee cap on the top ). If a wallaby feels threatened it will give the predator a big kick up the backside. Even though they are smaller than, let’s say the big cousin kangaroo but they will still make your day pretty sh*t if you are unlucky enough and dumb enough to try and fight one.
The ⭐best⭐ solution
In this report we have discussed a lot of things; what they like, what they eat, don't fight them, but perhaps the most important thing is what tactic do we use to stop them. There is; poisoning, trapping, shooting, using thermal imaging and if you wanted you could probably just go all kung fu on one but this is not recommended by any standards. The answer to the most effective eradication technique is hunting with dogs. This has been said by experts such as Guus Knopers and google.
Thermal imaging is also extremely effective and you can team the two strategies up to become the ultimate wallaby eradication technique.
Conclusion
In 1873 a governor of New Zealand imported wallabies into New Zealand, acting like giant rabbits; they destroyed a lot of native wildlife by eating seeds and branches from trees and ferns. By keeping a low profile most people blamed it on the rabbits and Deer.
Wallabies prospered in the large native bushes of New Zealand having no predators except humans who rarely hunted them, they had all the food in the world.
Now we can stop them, there is no most effective way to control the wallaby population but repellents and fencing will keep them off your property and is what most people do.
If you're looking to permanently get rid of them you can trap and shoot them, shooting is most popular because it's fun and also more effective, with traps it’s hard to control an established population. With night shooting however you can kill multiple wallabies a night. Poisoning is also a popular option but Wallabies don't always eat it. Most people agree that hunting is the most effective, fun and cheapest way to control wallabies.
The department of conservation also trains dogs to hunt down Wallabies this is very effective and is how the situation is currently being handled it also seems to be working.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wikipedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFwVY0UWVwU
https://tbcinquiry.edublogs.org/inquiry-examples/pest-inquiry/
https://www.boprc.govt.nz/environment/pests/
Guus Knoppers a dog trainer with over 45 years working for DOC