Questions about DOC's efforts to rid the environment of lead came up at a recent West Coast Conservation Board meeting in Reefton.
Board member Jonathan Clearwater asked DOC Western South Island operations director Mark Davies for an update on the lead programme, including plans to switch out lead shot for tungsten ammunition in the annual tahr cull in national parks.
Earlier experimentation with the tungsten shot had resulted in a couple of near misses, when it appeared to ricochet and hit helicopter rotor blades, Davies said.
“A lot of ballistics work has been done since then, but we have to be very careful, for health and safety reasons.”