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Despite numerous attempts to reduce the rabbit population, there are still large numbers of rabbits along the Taylor River.
photo: marlborough express
Plans to drop poison in central Blenheim to eliminate the rabbit population have been delayed because the rabbits have “eaten a lot of food” due to warmer weather.
Earlier this year, Marlborough District Council agreed to poison rabbits along the Taylor River before nighttime shooting in a bid to reduce rabbit numbers.
The poisoning campaign is expected to begin this month and will include placing Pindone poison in river reserves and neighbouring properties.
However, the grass was lush at that time and rabbits were not easily lured by the bait, which caused the plan to be delayed.
A Marlborough Regional Council spokesman said a “non-toxic pre-feed” was being put out to see how many rabbits took the bait.
They do this by setting up bait stations to get the rabbits used to them.
“There is plenty of feed around at the moment and the weather is warmer than expected,” the spokesman said.
The commission expects to begin poisoning in August.
A council spokesman said the surge in visitor numbers in November last year was due to seasonal reasons and was expected to decline as autumn approached.
But rabbit numbers along the river were said to be “extremely high” in May.
Rabbits have long been a problem along the river and in the surrounding areas, particularly because their burrows are damaging the network of flood protection dikes.
Rabbit holes caused damage to the Taylor River floodwall.
photo: marlborough express
In 2021, in response to the high numbers of rabbits in the Taylor River area south of Burleigh Bridge, the City Council carried out rabbit control operations in the area using the Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus strain K5 (RHDV1-K5).
At the time, the council said there were a high number of wild rabbits in the area and that it was difficult to use “conventional control methods” such as shooting because the area was open to the public.
Last year, the council carried out a nighttime shooting operation and employed an approved exterminator, killing 293 rabbits over three months, the report said.
But it said shooting alone would not be effective in reducing rabbit numbers to “sufficient and acceptable levels” in the long term.
Monitoring showed that shortly after the 2021 virus carrot incident and in 2022, the rabbit population remained “fairly stable” at around 170. A June 2023 count put the rabbit population at around 140.
Two areas on the west side of the river were reported to be “severely affected” by the rabbits.
It includes a 49-hectare area with vineyards, river reserves, a nursery, office buildings and a beef farm.
A second 21-hectare area was also “significantly impacted” and included “light commercial” zoning, a river reserve, a disc golf course and a forestry company site with residences.
A rabbit in a vineyard near Taylor Creek last October.
photo: marlborough express
The operation is expected to cost $23,000, including $2,500 for baiting, $500 for fencing, $14,000 for labor, $3,000 for consent fees and $3,000 for follow-up shooting.
The council recently counted rabbits in the upper Awatere River over three consecutive nights.
An environment and planning information pack published this month said 550 rabbits were found on 91km of track checked, most of them in the Molesworth area.
The report said the night counting route in the ward had been abandoned due to change in land use rendering the old route impassable.
LDR is a local news organisation jointly funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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