feral goat eradication
Feral goat eradication the next step in Kaimai Mamaku conservation efforts.
The initiative, driven by Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust, aims to move from controlling feral goat populations to eradication.
Trust chief executive Louise Saunders said control was about keeping population numbers low, whereas eradication is about “getting rid of them completely”.
Over the past four years, a Joint Agency Partnership of the trust, the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regional councils, and the Department of Conservation had been working together to get goat numbers down.
“Feral goats wreak havoc wherever they go. They eat understorey [vegetation], which stops forest regeneration, they have the potential to spread kauri dieback disease, and they eat grass at record speeds, severely impacting farm productivity.
“We’ve been asking the question, ‘If they’re really low, why don’t we just get rid of them completely?’”
1940
Feral goat control
Feral goats have been controlled in the Kaimai Mamak since the 1940s with around $10M being spent to keep them at a controlled level.
2020
Collaborative approach
DOC, Waikato Regional Council, Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust administer an Environmental Programme contract, pooling financial resources and working together on conservation efforts in the 260,000 hectare Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project area.
2024
Feasibility and operational plan
To kickstart the feral goat eradication programme, Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust has completed an operational plan and budget, and Joint Agency funds allowed landowner engagement to be completed.
2025
$750,000 from central government
The project received $750,000 of funding from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy to begin the eradication programme, although more funding is needed. The total six year programme (approximately three years of eradication and an additional three years of surveillance) is estimated to cost more than $1.5M.
2026
Eradication begins
Nine judas goats have been collared and will help lead hunters to the mobs. A project coordinator has been hired and contractors confirmed. We have also confirmed co-funding from Matamata Piako District Council, Bay Trust and TECT.
The next step in feral goat eradication involves an unwitting ally.
Seven Sharp joined us to find the next traitor.
Your Questions, Answered
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New Zealand’s native plants are particularly vulnerable to damage from browsing. Herding browsers such as goats cause two-fold damage by eating native plants and by trampling large areas of vegetation and compactable soils.
Goats will eat the foliage of most trees and plants and quickly destroy all vegetation within their reach, eating seedlings, saplings and litter-fall off the forest floor. They do however have strong preferences and will eat out favoured species first such as broadleaf/pāpāuma (Griselinia littoralis) and māhoe (Melicytus ramiflorus) before moving on to less desirable plants. Goats will also strip bark off trees and by eating young seedlings they effectively put a stop to forest regeneration. This takes vital food and shelter from native animals, and can worsen the effects of climate change.
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Feral goat eradication, rather than control, is not a new concept. Taranaki Mounga Project and DOC have eradicated goats from Te Papakura o Taranaki and the results of a thriving forest are already visible. Feral goat eradication has also been tried on the Auckland and Cuvier Islands and in the Hunua Ranges.
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This programme is led by DOC with support from Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Waikato Regional Council, Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust and manawhenua through the Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project.
In Stage One, professional hunters will be contracted to eradicate feral goats from an area of about 33,000 hectares of the Kaimai Mamaku Conservation Park and some surrounding private land.
If additional funding and support is obtained, a further Stage Two area of approximately 22,000 hectares may be added to the project area.
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The total programme is expected to cost $1.5M plus ongoing monitoring. In the long term, this will be more affordable than ongoing control. Central government have allocated $750,000 to the efforts through IVL.
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Great! Just email wildanimalcontrol@doc.govt.nz or call 0800362468.
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In anticipation for this feral goat eradication programme, Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust ran two hunting wananga to upskill kaitiaki in this space. We are in the process of engaging with iwi and hapū to confirm involvement.
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