The Department of Conservation (DOC) has revealed some of the unusual calls its call centre has received recently, from a caller with a black cat on their doorstep, to a request to deal with possum droppings and reports of a UFO falling from the sky.
The call centre teams will deal with up to 1,000 calls a week during summer holiday season, and more than 40,000 over the course of a year.
Call centre staff receive all kinds of queries on wildlife, animals and land managed by DOC. The Department operates a general enquiries line 0800 ASK DOC and email address info@doc.govt.nz. For conservation emergencies such as stranded whales and injured native species, the 0800 DOC HOT number operates 24/7.
But DOC’s Customer Service Team Lead, Olivia Tooley says many customers are mistaken about what DOC does – and doesn’t do.
Among the more unusual recent queries was a caller who was adamant DOC should be informed about a UFO they saw drop from the sky to the Tararua Range. Another recent correspondent voiced their concern about a planned MMA bout between a human fighter and a chimpanzee.
Calls about habitats and wildlife outside DOC’s remit are also frequently logged.
One recent caller requested information on Wellington Zoo – particularly if the animals would be visible – while calls about activity in Auckland’s Waitakere Ranges (managed by Auckland Council) and common pests like wasps, mice and rats are also common.
A concerned child also emailed DOC recently about a ginger cat seen walking across a public reserve. Rats, mice and possums on private property are regularly the subject of calls to DOC.
Ms Tooley says calls about seals are a daily occurrence.
“Seals are a protected species, so DOC is the right agency to call,” she says.
“However, some of our callers are unaware of our ‘hands off’ approach to seals: we’ve had queries and concerns about seals appearing very dry and covered in sand on beaches, questions from callers about which fish to feed a seal, and even people who mistakenly believe we have some sort of seal rehab or hospital facility.”
One recent caller even demanded DOC staff come and remove a seal from a stream on his property, where the animal was eating his “pet” eels.
“If a seal is in harm’s way, our great Operations staff will attend – but generally, we leave seals alone and ask the public to do the same.”
She says the team has recorded other calls from people concerned about food and wildlife – including one caller who wanted to know if it was okay to feed a ruru a commercially produced cracker biscuit.
“We consistently urge people not to feed wildlife, no matter how hungry the animals or birds may seem.”
“But we do want to acknowledge there are plenty of situations when calling DOC was the right thing to do – and we appreciate people’s concern for nature.
“What comes through from many of our calls is people care about nature, and that’s certainly important.”
For the year ended 31 August 2026, DOC’s Customer Services Teams dealt with 42,637 calls and 22,394 emails.
