Cunning sheep rustlers have captured and presumably butchered 30 pregnant ewes from a park on the fringes of central Auckland that is well known for its daffodils and lambs.

“It’s disgusting behaviour,” the park’s farm manager Peter Maxwell said on Tuesday after returning from a flock headcount.

“Thirty ewes have gone missing in the past month, all pregnant, some carrying two or even three lambs.

“To think that there are people out there targeting these animals, rounding them up and presumably killing them for food, is very distressing.”

Police are working with Cornwall Park management after a series of incidents over the past few weeks during which sheep rustlers have used dogs and traps to round up and capture sheep after dark.

Last Wednesday passers-by disturbed three men and three large dogs capturing newborn lambs.

“One of the dogs was standing on a lamb and the men were working to round up the sheep,” Mr Maxwell said.

“This is difficult work so it’s obviously highly planned.”