David Carter

Wellington, June 22 NZPA - The Government is planning to remove possums and wallaby species from coverage by the Wild Animal Control Act to simplify their extermination.

But Agriculture Minister David Carter says there is also a case to "comprehensively review" the interface between the Biosecurity Act and the wild animal legislation, which controls harmful species of introduced wild animals such as deer, chamois, and tahr -- species which hunters have previously claimed could be managed for commercial gain.

Though regional councils may include such species -- and feral pigs and goats -- in Biosecurity Act regional pest management strategies, they are also required to seek the Conservation Minister's approval if any of them are to be destroyed.

In addition, regional councils must comply with the requirements of the wild animal legislation when entering a property to control or inspect for wild animals, which Mr Carter said yesterday was onerous and caused delays in management.

"The need to comply with two sets of legislative requirements undermines the efficiency and effectiveness of pest management for wild animal species," he said.

Possums and wallabies were significant pests, were no longer considered significant hunting resources, and would be better managed under the Biosecurity Act alone. The Ministry of Agriculture and Department of Conservation will work out how current controls for wallabies should be covered by the Biosecurity Act.

Mr Carter yesterday released a proposed Pest Management Plan of Action for public consultation, which he said looked at ways to ensure pest management strategies limit the economic costs involve.

The plan also said that provisions in the Wildlife Act empowering regional councils to control of "injurious birds" - unprotected birds that are creating problems -- were no longer needed, and councils should not have to get agreement from the Director-General of Conservation to their control plans.

This would leave the Biosecurity Act as the mechanism to control such birds.