Feral cattle cull on Chathams

Funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), the six-week operation has culled 5,400 feral cattle to date.

According to Federated Farmers, the ever-expanding feral cattle population on Island has caused long term infrastructure damage, feed shortages and damage to unique wetland ecosystems over the years.

Federated Farmers Rotorua/Taupo meat and wool chair Ruby Mullinder looks after the interests of Chatham Island farmers and visits them regularly.

Mullinder says MPI's role in controlling the feral cattle population will also support farmers in achieving more viable farming operations in the future.

"There is now a need for the domestic cattle herd to be well marked in future to ensure the efforts of the MPI lead cull are not lost.

"With a basic ear marking or tagging program there will be a marked difference between domestic and any remaining feral stock in future which can be managed proactively."

A freshwater project on Chatham Island, led by Mullinder, has also sponsored several pig hunting prizes to incentives both total volume and sow culling.

She says this will support the efforts being made by MPI.

Mullinder is also calling for a long-term strategy to better manage the feral pig population on Chatham.

"It will also be necessary for the island community to implement a long-term strategy to better manage the feral pig population.

"They have both recreational and kai values however the current population is excessive. The current population causes major environmental damage through rooting up soil, damage to fences and livestock losses as pigs will hunt and consume young lambs, some farmers lose 100s of lambs each year. These are serious issues farmers face daily."

MPI's director of on farm support Dr John Roche told Rural News that reducing feral animal numbers enables limited livestock feed on the island to be kept for farmed sheep and cattle and helps reduce damage to fences.

"Supporting the island's community to reduce pest animal numbers is part of a package to prevent animal welfare issues and improve community safety," says Roche.

In early May, MPI staff, including Roche and other members of the on-farm support team, had practical discussions with local farmers on a range of topics, including feed budgeting and planning.

"A member of my team has been based on the island recently to provide continued, practical support to farmers," he says.

Sailing Again

Shipping services between Chatham Islands and the mainland has resumed.

Last month, the vessel Southern Tiare transported a load of sheep and cattle to Timaru.

MPI's John Roche says it was the first load of livestock to leave the islands since March. The second voyage was loading last week.

:"Shipping outages have led to a significant backlog of livestock on the Chatham Islands, including Pitt Island. It's estimated 24,000 sheep and 7,000 cattle need to be shipped to the mainland," he told Rural News.

The Southern Tiare, operated by Chatham Islands Shipping is the exclusive sea freight carrier of all export and imported goods to and from the Chatham Islands to mainland New Zealand with regular runs between Waitangi - Pitt Island and Timaru.