Report wallabies

We need you to report any sightings or signs of wallabies, anywhere in New Zealand.

Dead or alive. Their paw prints. Or their droppings (poo).

Your reports are critical to stopping their spread.

You can report sightings online.

Online form to report sightings – Report Wallabies NZ

Why wallabies are a problem

Wallabies are introduced herbivores. They:

graze on pasture and browse on native plants
eat everything that’s at their height in our native bush, including the seedlings that make up future native bush
destroy productive farmland and forests, and reduce biodiversity in our iconic landscapes
cost New Zealanders millions in lost farm production and the overall benefits we get from our environment.

Five species of wallabies were introduced to New Zealand from Australia in the late 1800s. They were brought here mainly for hunting and for people who had private zoos. They do not have any natural predators in this country and have adapted well.

Three of these species have become significant pests:

the dama wallaby and parma wallaby in the North Island (found mainly around the Rotorua Lakes area)
the Bennett's wallaby in the South Island (found mostly in South Canterbury but spreading to other areas).

Videos of the problems wallabies are causing

Dama wallabies in the North Island – YouTube

Bennett's wallabies in the South Island – YouTube

The damage wallabies can do

Wallabies can:

damage and prevent native forest regeneration – changing forest composition and diversity
destroy native species habitat and food sources
compete for feed with sheep, cattle, and other livestock – with significant economic impact
damage crops, young trees, and fences
increase the risk of erosion and contribute to poor water quality.

Along with other introduced browsing animals like deer and goats, wallabies can kill native forests, causing them to release carbon rather than holding it. By eating seedlings and killing young trees, introduced browsers also consume our future carbon sinks.

A fence that keeps wallabies out shows the damage the animals can do to the native undergrowth on the left.	Sheep and cattle will not feed where wallabies have pooed. This can reduce pasture by more than 10% to 15% on some farms.

Wallabies are spreading to new areas

Wallabies are very mobile. It's estimated that on average, populations can spread up to 2 kilometres every year.

The economic impact of wallabies could reach $84 million a year by 2025. Unless controlled, this cost will increase.

Maps of predicted wallaby spread and distribution in New Zealand

Predicted distributions of dama and parma wallabies (North Island, left) and Bennett's wallabies (South Island, right) from 2015 through to 2065. These models were created in 2015, based on the best available data at that time and have been updated with 2023 data. Maps courtesy of Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. (*From Latham et al. 2019. New Zeal J Zool 46: 31-47, DOI: 10.1080/03014223.2018.1470540*).

Show/hide information on these maps

The first map shows the central North Island, with current and predicted distributions of dama and parma wallabies shown on it. In the North Island in 2015, wallabies could be found around Rotorua. They reached as far north as the Bay of Plenty coast. It was predicted that by 2020 wallabies would have spread to the edge of Tauranga in the northwest. By 2025 they could reach as far as Whakatāne in the east. By 2035 they could spread to Taupō. It was predicted that by 2065 their range could reach:

Hamilton and into the lower Coromandel in the northwest
past Tūrangi in the southwest
as far as northern Hawke's Bay in the southeast
through Te Urewera National Park in the east.

The second map shows the central South Island, with current and predicted distributions of Bennett's wallabies shown on it. In the South Island in 2015, wallabies were mostly found in southern Canterbury. This population was around Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki and almost reached the coast at Oamaru and Timaru. Small numbers occurred in Otago east of Wānaka with a couple of sightings further south. It was predicted that by 2020 and 2025 the ranges of these populations would have increased. By 2035 the southern Canterbury and Otago populations were expected to have merged. By 2065 it is expected that the southern Canterbury and Otago population of wallabies will have spread south into Otago and north into more of Canterbury.

[End of the maps' description]

Stopping the spread of wallabies

Wallabies are classified as an unwanted organism under sections 52 and 53 of the Biosecurity Act 1993. That means they can't be bred, sold, moved (transported), or exhibited without a permit.

They can breed from a young age, which means populations can build quickly if not well-managed.

What we aim to do is to:

contain wallabies to the main known population areas in the North and South Islands
remove anything outside of them
stop anything getting through them
over time, slowly reduce these areas to rid them of all the wallabies.

Tell us if you see wallabies or signs of them

Wallaby scat (droppings or poo) showing the distinctive point at one end.
(Photo: Environment Canterbury)

Wallabies are naturally elusive and are largely nocturnal.

They hide in bush or scrub during the day and come out at night to feed.

To control and stop them spreading, we need to know where they are. This is where we need your help.

We need you to report any sightings or signs of wallabies, anywhere in New Zealand.

Dead or alive. Their foot prints. Or their droppings (poo).

Your reports are critical to control and stop their spread.

You can report sightings online.

Online form to report sightings – Report Wallabies NZ

Identifying dama, parma, and Bennett's wallabies

A dama wallaby – found only in the North Island. (Photo: Dale Williams)	A parma wallaby – also found only in the North Island. (Photo: Getty Images)	A Bennett's wallaby – found only in the South Island. (Photo: Jason Hawker)
Dama wallaby paw prints. (Sonia Frimmel, Pest Detective)		Bennett's wallaby paw prints. (Sonia Frimmel, Pest Detective)

Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme

Wallabies are not a new problem. But they are a national pest problem that needs a joint effort to solve.

Tipu Mātoro is a national eradication programme and a partnership of central and local government agencies working with iwi, farmers, landowners, researchers, and communities.

Together we have a vision for a wallaby-free Aotearoa.

Our immediate goal is to push wallabies back to containment areas designated in regional pest management plans, and to eliminate outlier populations by 2025. This is the first step towards the longer term goal of eradication.

The Tipu Mātoro Aotearoa New Zealand wallaby strategy sets out the partnership's proactive plan for protecting New Zealand's natural and production environments from introduced pest wallabies.

Tipu Mātoro Aotearoa New Zealand wallaby strategy [PDF, 4.2 MB]

The summary of the Tipu Mātoro strategy explains the approach and framework.

Summary of the Tipu Mātoro wallaby strategy [PDF, 1.9 MB]

What we're doing

Once we stop the spread of wallabies from main populations and eliminate outlier populations, it will make eradication possible.

Tipu Mātoro is tackling the wallaby problem by:

doing surveillance and population control in the Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Canterbury, and Otago
improving wallaby detection and control methods
doing research to better understand wallabies in New Zealand.

Tipu Mātoro’s operational research programme

Since inception in 2020, Tipu Mātoro has invested heavily in research to better understand wallabies in New Zealand.

We are looking for new and better ways to find, monitor and control wallabies and to improve cultural and social licence and existing detection, surveillance, and control methods to protect our farms, forests, native bush, and wildlife.

Our Tipu Mātoro National Research Plan for dama, parma and Bennett’s wallabies in New Zealand is a high-level guide to the research needed to support our strategy and the long-term vision of a wallaby-free Aotearoa.

Tipu Mātoro National Research Plan for dama, parma and Bennett’s wallabies in New Zealand [PDF, 2.2 MB]

Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research supports this work through a co-funding agreement that allows even more research to be done and implemented daily in our operations.

Help from other organisations

We're not doing this work alone. We are working with partner organisations including councils, farmers, and iwi.

About Kawau Island’s wallabies

Note that Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf is home to parma, dama, and swamp wallabies. These offshore wallabies are not an immediate priority for the national programme, as they are confined to the island. However, there is a risk they could be moved to the mainland and Tipu Mātoro supports the work of Auckland Council to eradicate wallabies from the island.

Kawau Island pest eradication proposal – Auckland Council