Federated Farmers South Canterbury branch president Mark Adams is warning of the impact wallaby numbers are are having in the region.

Exploding wallaby numbers are being described as "out of control" in South Canterbury, with reports of hunters shooting up to 50 at a time in some areas.

The pests are increasingly being found beyond their traditional habitats.

Federated Farmers South Canterbury branch president Mark Adams said a change in approach was needed to counter the problem.

"It's out of control. We are seeing them on roadsides where we never previously saw them.

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"Growing up in Fairlie, I never saw a wallaby up on the hill, and now we could go out and shoot 20 or 30 of our own.

"We are dealing with wallabies now, whereas 10 or 15 years ago we weren't having to deal with them at all."

Adams questioned whether the current approach to controlling the animals was being effective enough.

"I think the wallabies are pushing out further, because the foothills are a natural habitat for them, so they are thriving in that environment."

Adams was angered by rumours that some hunters were deliberately introducing wallabies into areas previously untouched by the animals.

"I have heard anecdotally that that may have happened, which is so irresponsible.

"I hope people who enjoy hunting would stop to consider the ramifications of introducing the pests to a habitat."

In addition to competing with stock for pasture, wallabies also devoured native flora, he said.

"You have native habitat riddled with wallaby because it's hard to hunt in. They are using that as a base and they push out onto the pastures.

"You find sheep don't like grazing where wallaby have been. You see where the wallaby trails are and it always looks dirty and soiled."

Maungati farmer Darryl Fowler, whose farm sits alongside the hilly habitat favoured by wallabies, said culling the animals was a constant battle.

"They are an issue and you have to keep at them. You have to keep them under control. They keep coming back in family groups; you clear one lot out and another lot comes in.

"I have been farming here for 10 years. They used be something I only used to see on the top half of the farm. Now they are bad on the bottom half."

The farmer said he had heard a single wallaby could eat as much grass as one sheep, though he didn't know whether that was true.

Fowler said he directed an Australian who came over to Timaru to visit his brother to an area where wallaby had not been hunted for a long time.

"I think they got close to 50 wallabies in three nights. That came as a bit of surprise to me; I didn't know there were that many down there."

Fowler said although he was unlikely to find wallabies in a paddock where stock were grazing, he had concerns about the pest animals getting close to his sheep.

"I worry about the disease issue where wallaby have been grazing with stock. We are close to lambing. I worry about them picking up disease and getting abortions.

"It's very much a case of keeping on top of the problem. You don't want to leave it or numbers build up."

Environment Canterbury (ECan) operations manager, Timaru, zone delivery, Judith Earl-Goulet, confirmed wallabies had spread outside of the council's containment area, from Kurow and Otemata in the south to the borders of Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park.

That was something it was trying to tackle, Earl-Goulet said.

ECan's monitoring and control activities included the 'Seen one? Say so' campaign, to encourage people to report wallaby sightings outside the containment area.

Earl-Goulet said ECan was working with the Otago Regional Council to tackle the issue through jointly-funded programmes and by sharing technical information, skills, and training staff.