Bay Harbour: September 06, 2017

Wednesday September 6 2017
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
BAY HARBOUR
PAGE 21
News
Unleashed dogs a risk
for Port Hills sheep
IN DANGER: Port Hills users are urged to keep dogs leashed
and keep them away from ewes and their lambs. ​
DOGS MUST now be kept on
a leash as lambing season gets
under way.
There are hundreds of lambs
around Halswell Quarry, Mt
Vernon, Sugarloaf, Scarborough
Hill, Greenwood Reserve, Godley
Head Reserve, Castle Hill Reserve
and Montgomery Spur Reserve.
Matt Rose, a city council ranger
based at Victoria Park, said signs
have been put up on Port Hills
tracks alerting visitors to the
lambs, but he has noticed people
are still walking and biking in the
area with their dogs roaming free.
There have been cases in the
past where dogs have chased or
mauled newborn lambs.
“The city council doesn’t close
tracks for lambing, but we are
asking the public to respect stock
welfare. The next four to five
weeks are the most crucial time
for lambing and it’s important
that dogs are kept on a lead,” said
Mr Rose.
City council reserves are used
for sheep grazing by farmers who
hold a licence.
The grazing is an important
management tool for the grassland/tussock
areas of the Port
Hills and helps to reduce fire risk
by keeping grass short and reducing
the spread of woody weeds.
Mr Rose said, if someone comes
across a lamb that seems abandoned,
it is usually best to leave
it there, write down the location
and call the city council’s call
centre.
In many cases the ewe has just
temporarily left the lamb and is
grazing nearby.
If people handle the lamb it
becomes harder for the mother to
recognise her offspring and she
might reject it as a result.
Port Hills farmer Jean Scott is
expecting an excellent lambing
season this year. She asked people
using Port Hills tracks to keep
their distance from stock, leave
gates as they found them and
keep their dogs under control.
Fines of $300 can be issued to
owners of dogs not kept under
effective control and if a dog attacks
stock the owner could face
prosecution by the city council.
SUMNER HAS joined the
nationwide movement towards
predator-free communities.
A grant from the Kiwibank/
Predator Free NZ Trust will
help establish a network of
backyard traps throughout
Sumner.
The project aims to eliminate
the main predators of native
wildlife and allow the ‘morning
chorus‘ to flourish.
Monitoring in other predator-free
communities shows
that if one in five households
have traps, predator numbers
are suppressed enough to create
an urban wildlife sanctuary.
Within this sanctuary, the
Predator Free Sumner Team
Te Manu Waiata (bird song,)
hopes to see bellbird, fantail,
BIRDSONG:
Predator Free
Sumner hopes
tui and kereru
will eventually
return to the
area. ​
Morning chorus could be
heard again in Sumner
and grey warbler thrive and
long term see the return of tui
and kereru.
The trust has funding to provide
up to 200 households with
free monitoring equipment
and heavily subsidised traps for
rats, possums and mustelids.
Participants just need to
keep their trap set and report
any catches back to the coordinators
for measurement.
To launch the project, a
community open house and
sausage sizzle is planned for
Sunday, September 10, 10am-
1pm outside the Sumner
SuperValue supermarket.
Residents are invited to go
along and see the traps and
have a chat to the team to find
out how they can get involved.