ORC is carrying out Bennett’s Wallaby control in the Flagstaff area. This work is supported by our partners Dunedin City Council and Biosecurity NZ, who lead the Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme and are providing funding for the operation.

Since 2011, there have been 22 reported Bennett’s Wallaby sightings in the Dunedin area. A detailed search of the area undertaken in 2022 found wallaby scat at numerous locations across the Flagstaff area, including Silverstream, Whare Flat and Swampy Summit.

Bennett’s Wallaby is one of five wallaby species introduced to New Zealand from Australia in the late 1800s. Wallabies are herbivores and each year they cost New Zealanders millions of dollars in lost farm production and environmental damage.

In response to the continued presence of Bennett’s wallaby in the Flagstaff/Swampy Summit area, ORC have engaged Rentokil Initial Ltd (High Country Contracting) to undertake control operations across the 5 areas, beginning October 2025 with City Forests (area 1). 

The aim is to eliminate Bennett’s Wallaby from Flagstaff.

This will be a phased operation, with surveillance carried out in separate areas from now and into 2026, beginning with City Forests. There will be no control operations without first informing landowners and stakeholders. 

Rentokil Initial Ltd will contact landowners within the project area to discuss the operation and complete private property permission agreements to confirm access and any conditions associated with that access. The agreements outline the various methods and the obligations of both the contractor and the landowner or occupier.

For landowners who have given permission, you will be contacted if surveillance has determined that wallabies are in the area and control work needs to be undertaken. The contractor will discuss the options for control with you to confirm access and any conditions associated with that access.

For properties where landowners have not agreed to control on their property, no control will be undertaken. Notice will also be given to landowners directly adjoining any treatment area prior to any control being undertaken.

Signage is to be placed at public land entrances to alert visitors and will remain for the duration of the project. 

If you have questions about this, please contact:

gavin.udy@orc.govt.nz