It is a condition of DOC trapping permits, required for trapping on public conservation land, that traps are set at least 700 mm above the ground in areas where there are ground-dwelling birds to avoid their being caught in traps. “Sims had been warned previously about setting traps on the ground. “Fortunately in this case the weka was able to walk away once freed but there have been too many instances of weka being killed, losing a leg or being otherwise harmed as a result of traps being set on the ground when they mustn’t be.
The group was disturbed to find the weka caught in the trap. “The weka was found in the trap by Outward Bound instructors and students in the Iwituaroa Scenic Reserve in the Anakiwa area of the Marlborough Sounds on 13 May last year. In addition to the $1000 fine, he was ordered to pay costs totalling $255.ĭepartment of Conservation Sounds Area biodiversity programme manager Mike Aviss said the case was an important reminder of the need for traps to be set so they do not pose a threat to native ground-dwelling birds such as weka.
A Picton man has been fined $1000 as a result of a weka being captured in a possum trap he set on the ground in breach of trapping permit conditions.Įdward Rani James Sims, 63, pleaded guilty in the Blenheim District Court last week to a charge of hunting absolutely protected wildlife without lawful authority in breach of the Wildlife Act 1953.
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