Project to protect SC’s bats
Forest and Bird and the Department of Conservation (DOC) are using a variety of innovative methods to trap and track bat predators near Pleasant Point.
The programme is part of the Pekapeka Protection Project, which aims to protect a threatened colony of endangered long-tailed bats near the town.
According to DOC, South Canterbury supports the only known long-tailed bat population on the East Coast of the South Island.
Predation by introduced species is one of the main factors in their decline.
Environment Canterbury (ECan) biodiversity officer Robert Carson-Iles says just 33 bats were counted in the colony this year, a significant drop from an estimated 150 to 200 in 2013.
His wife, Forest and Bird’s Justine Carson-Iles, who helps oversee the project, outlined numerous methods used to try to protect the colony.
Strategies include leaving a variety of traps, placing wax ‘‘iceblocks’’ near bat habitats, and tracing the pawprints of predator species.
It is hoped that combined use of these methods will help to arrest the ongoing decline of the longtailed bat colony.
Traps are the most conventional method currently utilised by project volunteers to stop predators.
A variety of high-tech traps are being used. These include the DOC200, which captures stoats, ferrets, weasels, and cats. The Sentinel Possum Trap and the A24, which captures rats and weasels, are also being used.
Traps are placed around bat habitats. They are placed 25 metres apart for rats, 100m apart for possums, and 200m apart for weasels. Trapped predators are disposed of on site.
Strategies to track the numbers and movements of predators are also being employed by the project.
Placing wax ‘‘iceblocks’’ laced with aniseed (essentially bitter liquorice) around bat habitats is one strategy.
Cold pieces of wax are applied to the ends of wooden sticks, with the wax at a consistency that appeals to predators such as rats and possums.
The rodents then chew on the wax, but are repelled by the taste. Bite marks left on the wax are examined by volunteers, and the types of predators present in an area can be determined through examination of these marks.
‘‘Tracking tunnels’’ is another technique. Ink-stained tunnels, made of similar material to real estate signs, are placed around bat habitats.
Predators crawl through these tunnels, leaving ink-stained pawprints in and around them. Volunteers then determine predator species and approximate numbers by examining the pawprints.
The project and its trapping and tracing programme is funded by ECan, Rob Carson-Iles said.
ECan has provided $12,500 in funding for the project, which has helped provide money for traps and baits, while DOC officers have given Forest and Bird members training in how to place and operate baits and traps.
Ara Institute of Canterbury students also take part in the programme, with first year Sustainability and Outdoor Education students managing two trap lines.
‘‘Our students have taken over pre-existing trap lines in the Pleasant Point area. Our students go out, check, and re-bait the traps. It gives the students the opportunity to learn some responsibility,’’ tutor Curtis Vermeulen said.