Keeping wallabies out of Marlborough

Council’s Senior Biosecurity Officer Liam Falconer recently attended a training event in South Canterbury.

Put on by the Environment Canterbury Wallaby Team, its aim was to gain more experience and knowledge to prepare for a wallaby response in Marlborough.

Liam said it was great training which made it clear to the attendees that wallabies have a devastating impact on the environment, destroying productive farmland as well as forest and native bush.

Bennett’s Wallaby was introduced to South Canterbury from Australia in 1874 and by the 1940s had become a significant pest with no natural predators.

There have been several reported wallaby sightings in Marlborough in recent years; however no evidence has been found, with the most likely scenario being mistaken identity.

“Wallabies are unlikely to make it to Marlborough on their own,” Liam said.

Council has previously removed an adult wallaby in Marlborough that was adopted as a joey from the South Island population and raised as a pet. It is an offence to keep a wallaby in Marlborough.

A combined response with Nelson City Council to a reported sighting in the Rai Saddle earlier this year found no sign of wallabies’ presence.