Earlier this month, four northern royal albatross eggs vanished from the colony overnight.
They are believed stolen.
There were were no signs the missing eggs of the seabirds had been eaten by predators.
Former head ranger Lyndon Perriman said when he left in 2016, a 2m, barbed-wire topped security fence built in the 1970s had made it difficult to access the area.
People would occasionally get across, but eggs disappearing had never been an issue.
That fence has since been removed.
‘‘The fact that this has happened is pretty shocking, but the job for somebody to go in there and actually gain access to the nests has been made a lot simpler with the removal of that security fence.’’
Although a new fence was installed when the old one was removed, it was much closer to the Royal Albatross Centre, and parts were ‘‘standard sheet fence’’, Mr Perriman said.
He had been surprised when he saw the replacement fence, as it did not seem to be as effective.
‘‘Doc management has failed to securely fence off the area.
‘‘They haven’t really put a lot of resources into that nationally important site.’’
One factor behind the change may have been that the wire was vulnerable to corrosion due to sea salt in the environment.
He recalled having to repair the old fence a number of times, as it was so damaged it could snap in gale-force wind.
Despite raising the issue with Doc management, the budget was never provided for a serious repair job, he said.
‘‘Having had the experience of working there for a number of decades, it’s always been a place that has run on the smell of an oily rag in terms of budget.’’
It was clear somebody had come in and removed the eggs, Mr Perriman said.
Albatrosses were used to rangers, and ‘‘pretty relaxed’’ around people.
‘‘It wouldn’t be difficult to get the co-operation of the albatross to stand up, and reach in and grab the egg.’’
Doc coastal Otago operations manager Annie Wallace said on Friday an investigation into the disappearance had not shed light on what had happened.
It was unlikely anyone ‘‘blundering around’’ could have avoided being seen on the CCTV footage, which had since been collated and reviewed.
‘‘It feels like it’s been really well-planned. I think there’s a high chance that it will remain unsolved,’’ she said.
Doc was unable provide a response to questions asked by the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
