Traps that break down (in a good way) could be game changer
They look like coffee machine capsules, and they’re not much bigger. But in their hundreds, they could turn the tide for predator eradication.
A new single-use micro-trap from Goodnature is set to receive $1.3 million of Government funding over five years for its development.
The shuttlecock-sized trap, still at the concept stage, could be dropped by helicopter or drone to target ship and Norway rats across the landscape, and biodegrade in a couple of months.
Goodnature co-founder Robbie van Dam said the idea came to him around eight years ago, while working in predator control on
Hawaiian island Kaho‘olawe. He faced the problem of unexploded mines from pastmilitary training preventing access on foot, and began to see a need for a trap that could be delivered by air, with no need to check it or retrieve it later.
This would be perfect for hardto-reach locations deep in the New Zealand bush, or high on a ridgeline, he said.
The trap would degrade in a couple of months, whether used or not, leaving no waste and no toxins.
Delivering a trap by drone was less invasive, and much easier for inaccessible spots, van Damsaid.
The current prototype has a small cone, sized between a thimble and a shot glass, just big enough for a rat’s head to fit inside.
When a rat nibbles the bait, a biodegradable elastic band snaps around its neck and quickly strangles it.
The company, in conjunction with research institute Scion, in
Rotorua, has been testing plastic alternatives, like lignin from timber, or bird feathers, to construct the traps. Van Dam said nothing like it had been tried before anywhere in the world.
Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan said traps were an important predator control tool, ‘‘but current technology limits the use of traps in the backcountry or over large areas, due to their costs and servicing needs.
‘‘The aerial micro-trap is a new concept that is non-toxic and humane, and potentially costeffective for suppressing rats over large areas and in remote and difficult-to-access locations.’’ Goodnature will design, build and test the prototype in collaboration with the Department of Conservation. If successful, the trap would be produced and sold by the company.
The funding would come from Goodnature, as well as DOC’s Tools to Market programme ($965,000) and Predator Free 2050’s Products to Projects fund ($335,000), backed by the Provincial Growth Fund. Seven other projects have been funded through Tools to Market since 2017.