*Warning: The images in this story could be upsetting

The dumping of deer carcasses, shellfish remains and other organic waste in Whakatāne's Awatapu Lagoon, which is in the centre of a residential area, is reaching a level a local dog walker describes as “feral”.

A resident who frequently walks their dog around the lagoon said the dumping of carcasses, both in the lagoon and on its banks, was a regular occurrence.

In most recent incident, a stripped deer carcass appeared in long grass on the lagoon’s edge overnight, left the walker reeling with disgust.

The local, who Local Democracy agreed not to name, said carcasses were usually dumped under the cover of darkness, but just a few weeks ago they had witnessed a man walk into the reserve from Horrocks Avenue carrying a deer’s head and throw it over the edge of the bridge into the lagoon.

When questioned, he had said he was “feeding the eels”.

“The worst part was that he had a young child with him so he was teaching the next generation that this is a good way to behave.”

The head could be seen from the bridge for several weeks afterward, floating on the surface, and smelt terrible.

The dog walker said they were concerned that with the roar approaching the problem was only going to get worse.

Environmentalist and member of the Awatapu Otamakaokao Kaitiaki Trust Keith Hamill said while it was true that fish and eels would eat the carcasses, it would do more harm to them than good.

He said the decomposing carcasses would only add to the low oxygen levels the lagoon was experiencing at the moment due to lack of water flow and pest plants covering the surface.

A deer carcass rots amid long grass beside Awatapu Lagoon on Thursday. Photo: Diane McCarthy

“Because there’s not a lot of flow running through it, it’s just going to decompose and add to the anoxia setting in. That sort of thing can become a breeding ground for issues like botulism.”

Hamill has played an important role in restoration of the lagoon over several years and was contracted by Whakatāne District Council last year to report on the condition its condition and options for improvement.

Based on this, the council has planned to budget over $2.6 million for wetland construction at Awatapu over the next 10 years.

Mr Hamill said the lagoon needed to be treated as “a taonga”

“It has problems but it has huge potential as well and the more we treat it as a taonga, as something to respect, the better it is going to be.

“It’s disrespectful to the lagoon for people to throw rubbish in there.”

A deer carcass rots amid long grass beside Awatapu Lagoon on Thursday. Photo: Diane McCarthy

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.