Source: Radio New Zealand
The New Zealand Sea Lion Trust has extended the reward for information on sea lion killings. Supplied / DOC / Giverny Forbes
A $55,000 reward for information leading to those responsible for killing endangered sea lions in the Catlins a year ago has been extended to cover the killing of three sea lions at the Waitaki River mouth, north of Ōamaru, in August.
The New Zealand Sea Lion Trust (NZSLT) initially offered a $5000 reward for information leading to the killing of a sea lion pup and its mother, found shot in late 2024, and the death of another young female that had to be euthanised after being found with stab wounds in November last year.
The eight month old pup was shot and left to die in September, and its mother was found dead weeks later 100 metres away from where the pup had died.
A wave of support and donations saw the reward soar to $55,000.
But prosecutions have to be brought within twelve months of the offence due to statutory limitations in the Marine Mammals Protections Act, Sea Lion Trust co-chair Shaun McConkey said.
He said the reward has been extended, and will remain open until the end of August for information leading to those who killed the sea lions in Waitaki.
“Sadly I think the opportunity to prosecute someone for the Catlins killings has passed. But for the Sea Lion Trust one of the positives to come out of it is the number of people who are incensed about it, the number of people who are disgusted by it, and the number of people who are willing to give money towards finding the culprits and preventing it from happening again.
“There is certainly a lot of support out there for sea lions and other wildlife, and there’s enough people who have had enough of this type of thing going on.”
The three young males were found at the Waitaki River mouth, north of Ōamaru on August 10.
The New Zealand or Hooker’s sea lion – one of the rarest sea lions in the world – is nationally endangered.
They were hunted to the point of extinction, eradicated on the mainland for around 200 years, only returning in the 1990s when a sea lion named ‘Mum’ made her way to the Dunedin coast to give birth.
There’s thought to be around 10,000 sea lions left, mostly found on remote sub-Antarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands, though the main breeding colony on the Auckland Islands has halved in size in recent decades.
Sea lions are drawn to isolated sandy beaches, which made it hard to monitor the animals or install cameras in many areas, leaving the Trust reliant on information from the public, McConkey said.
“I’m just hoping that someone’s opened their mouth and boasted about doing this at the pub or something like that, and someone’s been listening and noted it and will be able to tell the police.”
It’s not known what was used to stab the sea lion killed in the Catlins, but McConkey said people would have been able to approach the animal, despite their size.
“If you were to go up and stab a sea lion, they’d most likely try and run away rather than attack you. They’re not especially aggressive animals, but there’s always someone who’s either incensed enough or macho enough to do this and it makes them look big and tough, but I really don’t understand it.”
Locals described the small colony at the Waitaki River Mouth where the dead and wounded animals were found as almost tame.
Under the Wildlife Act, it is illegal to injure or kill protected native wildlife such as sea lions and anyone who does so can face punishments of up to two years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $250,000.
Mainland populations were doing better than their sub-Antarctic counterparts, where colonies were extremely vulnerable to disease and steep declines in numbers had been seen, likely due to wider ecological issues, including growing competition for dwindling fish stocks and the effects of climate change.
On the mainland, the animals faced threats from dogs, drivers and humans.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
