The
Department of Conservation is investigating putting up signage to warn people
about critically endangered black billed gulls which are nesting on the banks
of the Upukerora River near Te Anau.
The
Department of Conservation will investigate putting up signage to
warn motorbike riders, four-wheel drivers and dog walkers that they risk
disturbing a critically endangered bird.
Black
billed gulls look to be preparing to nest beside the outlet of the
Upukerora River which flows into Lake Te Anau in Fiordland.
But DOC
senior ranger biodiversity George Ledgard said the birds might be scared from
the area by human activity or predators, and he asked visitors to the area to
be cautious.
"We're
trying to get some proactive awareness out there and we're talking to
Environment Southland about what can be done.
"There
is no signage there at the moment and I'm looking into that but we currently
don't have the budget for it."
That
meant that people using the area were "probably unknowingly"
disturbing the birds, he said.
"It's
an awareness issue so it's hard to tell people off for something they don't
even know they're doing.
"It's
a really popular for people to go four-wheel driving, ripping around on their
motorbikes, walking their dogs or fishing and a gull is a gull to them, but as
native birds that have lived there, they have the priority.
It was
possible that the birds would move to a new nesting site.
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