Forestry companies are sometimes criticised for poor or neglectful wild animal control on their properties. In reality, these animals damage young trees and fences, so we don’t want them in our forests any more than our farming neighbours do.
At Wenita, wild animal control is an important part of our operations – just like pruning and thinning. We invest significant time and money in this work in our own forests and sponsor local pest control initiatives such as Predator Free Dunedin and the Moturata Taieri Whānau predator control project.
We also employ professional hunters to target areas with high concentrations of animal pests, and we encourage recreational hunting in our forests through our online hunting permit system.
See here https://access.wenita.co.nz/.
In the 12 months to June this year our pest control efforts have removed approximately 2500 pigs, 5800 possums, 120 goats, 100 deer, more than 500 rabbits, plus a handful of other pests and predators that prey on our vulnerable native birds and insects.
Photo: Wenita Health and Safety Manager Drew Gillies with a pig from one of the Wenita forests.