The prickly pest

ARC adds hedgehog, magpie and mynah to hitlist
Thursday October 26, 2006
By Wayne Thompson

The hedgehog, magpie and mynah bird will be declared pests if the Auckland Regional Council has its way. The familiar residents of town and country have joined other introduced but more notorious ecological vandals like possum, rat, feral cat and stoat on the council's pest hitlist put out yesterday for public comment.

The council says the hedgehog, introduced from England in late 19th century as the gardener's friend, mainly eats insects. But it also preys on birds, lizards, frogs and the chicks and eggs of ground-nesting birds. It is a significant threat to native snails and weta and may also compete for kiwis' food and nesting sites.

But the council says the shy, prickly customer is too widespread for a successful council eradication programme. Instead, it suggests including the hedgehog in control measures undertaken for other pests in target areas with high ecological values. The council says its priority is to prevent the hedgehog establishing on the islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

The Department of Conservation has added hedgehogs to rats, cats, stoats and rabbits in its eradication project on Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands to restore habitat for threatened species and flora. The ARC also plans to make it an offence to take hedgehogs to offshore islands. It will also provide education and advice on the animal and back research on its impacts in conservation areas.

Scientists contacted yesterday supported the council's stand against the hedgehog, saying it was true that it could be serious predators of skink, weta and birds' eggs. But animal advocate Jasmine Gray, of Auckland Animal Action, appealed for people to take a more kindly attitude towards the hedgehog.

A year ago, she said, she found one in a Sandringham park suffering from mange that caused its spikes to fall out.

"We had it for three months and looked after it and gave it three courses of antibiotics," she said. "It lived in a biscuit tin for a nest and fed on cat food. After we looked after it, we released it in the park where it came from."

The ARC says it will hire out traps for controlling magpies, which were introduced from Australia, and the mynah, which came from India. It will make it an offence to breed, sell or offer them.

The council says the magpie is aggressive and swoops and attacks people and may chase away native birds from breeding territories. The mynah, too, is territorial, evicts other birds from nests and eats eggs. Landcare ecologist John Innes said the magpie and the mynah were minor pests.

"I'm not aware of any New Zealand study that implicates mynahs in any substantiated wildlife problems," said Dr Innes. "Magpies are inconsequential predators of bird eggs and nests compared to pest mammals."

The proposed pest management strategy is the result of a two-year review and public submissions are invited until mid-February next year.