Students’ noisy project is bad news for predators
When it comes to trapping the predators that harm New Zealand’s native wildlife, a group of South Taranaki students are making a big noise.
Instead of only relying on food as bait, students from Auroa School, near Ha¯ wera, have made sound lures, electronic devices that use noises such as baby birds cheeping, to attract predators including stoats and possums into traps.
The lures are now being trialled on farms near the school, at the New Plymouth Airport, on Taranaki Maunga by the Department of Conservation, and by private trappers in the McKenzie Country and the West Cost of the South Island.
And the work has also won the national Tahi Rua Toru Tech Challenge, a team-based digital technology competition for schools.
Sophie van den Brand, 11, Lily Malo, 11, Maddi Goodchap, 10, and Ella McKenna, 11, are the second team of year 6 students from Auroa School to work on the project, which is led by deputy principal Myles Webb.
‘‘We want more people to start using them so we can gather data from different places,’’ Sophie van den Brand said.
This past year, they have found a better solar panel and developed a waterproof case for the device, and added tubing to cover the wires, so they don’t get chewed by rats, and used different covers to magnify the sounds.
One day, a ferret wandered across the deck and up to their classroom while they were playing the lure noises, Lily Malo said.
At New Plymouth Airport, one of their traps caught an adult stoat in a rat trap.
‘‘What we have to do now is catch more stoats,’’ Ella McKenna said.
‘‘That will help us figure out if it was the sound lure or that the stoat was sick and desperate for food.’’
The four students now have to hand their research on to a new team of year 6 students but they plan to stay involved.
‘‘We will be the background people,’’ Maddi Goodchap said.
The sound lures project was originally set up with funding from the government’s Curious Minds programme, with support from Taranaki Regional Council staff, the Taranaki Mounga Project, the New Plymouth Airport, Fonterra and the school community.
The lures won a Taranaki Regional Council Environmental Award in 2020 and the regional Tahi Rua Toru Challenge in 2019.
‘‘The Auroa School sound lures have the potential to be a useful tool for predator control projects in Taranaki and around New Zealand,’’ Taranaki Regional Council environmental services manager Steve Ellis said.
‘‘Stoats can be tricky to catch, so anything that improves trapping success rates would be very welcome,’’ Ellis said.
He said the long-term goal of a predator-free Taranaki relied upon young people finding new ways to protect biodiversity.
‘‘It is great to see the next generation applying their interest in predator control in such a practical and innovative way.’’
Department of Conservation community ranger Ellen Squires said it was too early to tell how effective the lures would be but innovation was always positive.
‘‘We are always keen to participate in student-led trials.
‘‘It is so important to have others think critically about pest control and have school students lead the initiative in order to further protect our native species in the future,’’ Squires said.