A woman was shocked last night when a wild stoat appeared in the Biosecurity and Customs desks at the Auckland International Airport.
Lou Baddiley, International Manager of RotoruaNZ, had just disembarked her plane and was trying to declare items after a recent arrival in the country, but instead found herself telling Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) staff “it’s not a rodent, it’s a stoat”.
The mustelid seemed to appear out of thin air and managed to pass through airport security without capture. It then ran down past the desks and went towards the “staff only customs area”, Baddiley said.
Baddiley said she knows a stoat when she sees one and accredited a local ziplining company for her knowledge of New Zealand pests.
“They talk about all the different predators that we have in our forest; they talk about the plan to eradicate predators and the mission that we’re on in New Zealand as well as the mission they are on [to eradicate pests].
“I’ve seen lots of photos of stoats and I know the damage they do to the forest. I’ve been well educated… about stoats.”
“I wouldn’t have known what it was without them.”
She said that while going through Customs at the airport is a usual event, she “wasn’t expecting to see a stoat, [I] was expecting to declare my mustard.”
She said that travellers in line behind her were amused by the situation.
“I said ‘welcome to New Zealand, I want you to know this is not normal'.”
Baddiley said even biosecurity officers looked surprised at the undeclared visitor.
A Biosecurity New Zealand spokesperson said “the airport company has notified us that an animal resembling a stoat or weasel was spotted in the arrivals area by their security cameras last night.
“The animal likely made its way into the precinct from surrounding land. There is nothing to suggest the animal came from an arriving traveller or baggage.
"The airport has arranged for animal pest control services to search the arrivals area.”
Auckland Airport declined to comment.
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