The Rakiura Maori Lands Trust has cancelled bookings and closed its Stewart Island/Rakiura hunting blocks due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Trust operates nine hunting blocks on Trust-administered land on the east coast of Rakiura.

Trust Chair Simon Gomez said all bookings/permits through to the end of May had been cancelled as required by the NZ Government.

The Trust was looking to retool its booking system to allow replacement bookings/permits to be issued in the 2021 year, he said.

Dependent on the Covid-19 situation, blocks could reopened for island resident bookings later in the year, Gomez said. 

The Trust supported calls from The Game Animal Council and the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association urging all hunters to do the right thing and stay at home while New Zealand was at Covid-19 Alert Level Four, Gomez said.