Traps cull 5400 Basin pests
A massive trapping programme has provided native birds, lizards and other species with 5400 more chances to survive in the Mackenzie Basin.
The multi-agency Te Manahuna Aoraki project, launched with the ambition of turning the Basin area into a predator-free zone by 2040, has trapped 2656 hedgehogs, 441 rats, 1839 stoats, ferrets and weasels and 477 feral cats since December 2018.
Project manager Simone Cleland said although hedgehogs were easy to catch in that they were willing to walk into traps, they also had a small home range which meant they needed to put out a lot of traps to catch them.
‘‘They make a really big impact on our lizard species and braided river birds,’’ Cleland said.
‘‘We’re in the process of applying more than 200 traps in the Mistake Valley, with the hope of eliminating hedgehogs entirely within that area.’’
Cleland said the increase in trapped pests meant that the Basin’s native species had ‘‘5400 more opportunities to survive and thrive’’.
‘‘We were always ambitious with this project, but it’s become more of a reality.’’
Cleland said bird species such as the rock wren were particularly vulnerable to stoats, ferrets and weasels.
‘‘With predator control, rock wren chicks have a 70 per cent survival rate in the Mackenzie Basin, without it, it’s about a 35 per cent chance.
‘‘Stoats will target rock wren, they will eat the eggs and even the adult birds.’’
Cleland said there would also be hundreds of traps laid in the Malte Brun range of the Basin, with the ambition of removing stoats entirely from that area.
‘‘We’re really stepping up our efforts with a combination and monitoring tools and kill traps for these pests.’’
Feral cats were probably the hardest to catch, Cleland said, due to their large home range.
‘‘Male feral cats have a home range of 12 square kilometres and female feral cats have a home range
of three square kilometres,’’ she said.
‘‘This means we have to extend our trapping network to cover a 60,000-hectare area. We need it to be of that scale to protect our native species in the braided river areas,’’ Cleland said.
The Department of Conservation has also provided two conservation dogs to the programme, which also helped identify feral cat ‘‘hotspots’’ and informed Te Manahuna Aoraki’s predator control.
However, Cleland said there had been a huge range of volunteers from a variety of organisations that have contributed to the trapping programme.
‘‘People have been so willing to volunteer to set up traps in difficult to access places.’’
‘‘We were always ambitious with this project, but it’s become more of a reality . . . We’re really stepping up our efforts . . .’’
Simone Cleland Project manager