Animals
Pest animals have no respect for boundaries and move around quite freely. The approach Environment Southland has taken is to try and minimise the impact of pest animals across property boundaries and within areas of high value.
Forty one animals have been included in the Regional Pest Management Strategy. With the exception of rooks and exclusion species, pest animal control is generally the landowner's responsibility.
Environment Southland staff can however provide information and advice to assist the landowner in choosing appropriate best practice control methods, or in contacting a commercial pest control provider. We are also able to provide certain traps and control materials for short term loan.
For advice and information on pest control options, methods and materials please contact Environment Southland Biosecurity team on 0800 76 88 45.
Current pest animal programme - Rabbits
Spring, summer and autumn in Southland often bring a lot of grass growth and slightly drier conditions, which means rabbit populations can bloom. The colder, wet winter season greatly increases natural rabbit mortality and reduces the amount of food available. As a consequence, winter is when rabbit populations tend to be at their lowest. This means that now is the cheapest and most effective time to undertake rabbit control- every rabbit removed now means ten less rabbits when summer comes around.
There are a lot of options available for you to undertake rabbit control on your property, depending on your particular situation. The factsheet below outlines most of these, but if you wish to discuss in more detail these options, or receive assistance on how best to undertake the work on your specific property, please contact one of our Biosecurity staff for more information by email at service@es.govt.nz, or phone (03) 2115115 or 0800 76 88 45 (within Southland).
Ongoing programmes
Factsheets
Other links
Environment Southland is the brand name of Southland Regional Council.