Immediately halt all regional rook culling pending a review

That the House of Representatives urge the Government to immediately halt all regional culling of any remaining rooks in New Zealand pending an independent review of the evidence, welfare impacts, and justification for these programmes.

We argue against the culling of New Zealand's rooks, citing a lack of verified evidence on economic harm caused by rooks, an inadequate evaluation of the agricultural benefits against the health risks associated with chemical use, and a lack of reliable knowledge across the programme. Control measures have sharply reduced rook numbers and their lifelong pairing limits population recovery. A welfare assessment of DRC-1339 poison indicated severe pain and suffering over a prolonged duration.