“That ensures we have the best plans in place to safely destroy and remove those nests and hornet populations,” Inglis said. “We have had a fantastic response from across the country and, importantly, from the local community where these hornets have been found. He said Biosecurity NZ was focused on locating and destroying queens to stop them from producing a new generation of hornets. All queen yellow-legged hornets have been found in Zone A (red circle) – a 1km buffer around detections. Two specialists from the United Kingdom with experience managing yellow-legged hornets are currently in New Zealand, observing the response operation and sharing their expertise, including their use of the tracking technology.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 20, 2026 09:32 UTC