Tahi’s story

May 14, 2012

by Kim Dawick

The extremely demanding nature of goat control work means most hunters only last a year or two in the role. The hunters in this story have all moved on to new things, but the dogs have been passed on and are still working for DOC.

Tahi was the result of a purpose-bred combination thought up by Joe Gurnick for use in goat control. Joe had worked with dogs his entire life, and over the years he’d seen both the good and the bad. He had very strict criteria for his hunting dogs, with a desire to breed a litter of intelligent bailing dogs, but of slightly smaller stature to the classic border collie/heading dog used by the majority of goat hunters.

Joe was the Team Leader for the (DOC Hauraki) Peninsula Project goat
control programme. Joe is an exceptional hunter with approximately 15
years goat control experience and a lifetime of pig hunting. Photographed
above working a mob of four goats with two dogs in a large bush clearing.
Note Joe’s casual approach, showing total confidence in his dogs’ ability.
Getting a working-dog to this level takes years of training

The mother to this litter was an easy choice for Joe. He chose his three year old Border Collie bitch Bella, who was shaping up to be an exceptional finder/bailer. However, choosing a sire was not so easy, despite the many tongue in cheek offers to use dogs owned by his team mates.

In the end, Joe found a sire for Bella. A 1st cross Fox Terrier/Whippet that belonged to Don Thompson, a professional rabbiter and a team member of DOC’s high priority Rangitoto/ Motutapu Island pest eradication team. It was love at first sight, and Bella soon began nesting and preparing herself for motherhood.

Goat up a tree

The day came when Bella was due to give birth. The entire goat team was there to witness it and each of us had our eye on Bella ready to choose one of her puppies for ourselves. Finally a puppy appeared, then… well…, then nothing…. To everyone’s surprise that was it! It is very unusual for a bitch to only have one puppy, so Joe claimed his puppy and named her Tahi (means ‘one’ in te reo Māori) and sent the rest of the goat team home very disappointed.

Tahi grew up fast, totally submerged in a hunting lifestyle. She was everything Joe had hoped for; small, fast, intelligent, very trainable, and with lots of tenacity.

In 2010 the Peninsula Project goat team came to an end when the hunters achieved their goal (after six years of hard toil), shooting themselves out of a job; a credit to the hunter/dog teams carrying out the goat control. Joe decided to venture overseas, having hunted his entire life; it was time to do something else. So Tahi (now a very sought after hunting dog) was gifted to Michael Walker (Programme Manager Bio Threats Hauraki, and an ex-goat hunter/team mate and close friend of Joe’s) who let Waikato hunting team member  Thomas Malcolm borrow her on a short term loan.

The Bluffs – typical goat country

It was in November 2011 when everything went horribly wrong for Thomas while hunting on Mount Pirongia (Waikato). His day started out the usual way however, at the end of the day Tahi and another dog, Haka, were missing with no explanation! Having a dog stay out overnight is not an everyday occurrence, but from time to time, as all those who hunt with dogs know, it can happen.

Thomas desperately searched every inch of the mountain looking for his hunting mates with days turning into weeks, and weeks into a month. All hope was fading for the return of his dogs, when on the fifth week we received a call from a local farmer regarding a dog which had just turned up at his house.

We asked for a description of this dog and he replied, ‘”Small, black and white, very skinny, extremely friendly, and it may have a broken leg….”

Everything matched Tahi’s description however, we didn’t want to get our hopes up—after all, five weeks (lost) in the bush is a very long time, and it may not be her.

As you can imagine, we played it cool and headed straight out there trying not to show too much emotion (as us tough hunter types do). Much to our delight, it was indeed Tahi, and the emotions were a little harder to hide this time!

Shae Turo (DOC Hauraki) holding Tahi who is sporting her trendy pirate skull
and cross bone fibreglass arm cast. She is now back in prime condition
after a week on a special high protein/fat diet

Haka was also found four months later—he was being used by a pig hunter all that time!

DOC’s use of dogs

Dogs are an essential tool in the department’s wild animal control programmes because of their ability to find wary animals in dense vegetation.

Dogs are used by DOC to find goats, deer, pigs, stoats, cats, hedgehogs, mice, rats, kiwi, blue duck, wallaby, ants, and many more animals for their handlers, all in the name of conservation.

The use of dogs in areas containing endangered bird life and/or adjoining areas of farmland is of concern to some members of the public and landowners. In order to address these concerns, DOC have strict policies in regards to the use and training of its dogs.

Every hunter/dog combination has its own particular hunting style preference.

Acceptable styles for use in the Waikato region include dogs that find and bail and/or dogs that find and indicate.

  • A bailing dog locates its target species (sometimes up to 300 metres away), and mostly works out of sight of the hunter. The dog will head (run it down, cutting in front of the animal to stop it), and then constantly bark in order to tell the hunter where it is.
     
  • An indicating dog stalks its target species, tracking the animal (or sometimes a mob of the target species) always within close sight (less than 10 metres) of the hunter. When the quarry is very close to the hunter, the dog will show a positive indication, e.g. it may lock onto a classic ‘point’ with one leg off the ground, a fixed tail, with the head indicating the exact direction of the quarry.

Meet the team (from top, left to right): Dudley, Dylan, James,
Kim, Paul, Ruby

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Posted by Department of Conservation

Waimate wallaby hunt: Things that go bounce in the night!

March 19, 2012
Wallaby.

Wallaby

It’s wallaby time of year again in South Canterbury! The 22nd annual South Canterbury Recreational Sportsmans Club wallaby hunt was held 16 – 18 March.

The club has run an annual wallaby hunt since 1991. Waimate is known as the wallaby capital, but entrants in the SCRSC wallaby hunting competition hunt throughout the Hunters Hills and Mount Dobson area. 2008 was a particularly bumper year for the competition, with 2000 wallabies shot over one weekend. How many were shot in 2012? We don’t know yet, but we’d love to hear from you if you were there! What was your tally?

A tale (tail) of three wallaby

Before people arrived in New Zealand, the only native mammals were three species of bat and eight species of seal and sea lion. Our first peoples brought kiore (Pacific rats) and kurī (Polynesian dogs). European settlers introduced a huge range of creatures, including seven species of wallaby.

The Waimate kind – red necked (or Bennett’s) wallaby – were brought here by Michael Studholme, the first European settler in the district in the early 1870s. He released two females and one male, which in 1874 bounced off into the Hunters Hills, where their descendants have been breeding ever since.

On occasion, they have extended their range into areas south of the Waitaki River and into the Mackenzie Basin. International tourists have been known to report being surprised to see a ‘giant rat’ on the Two Thumb Range! Wallaby have even become a bit of a road hazard around the place as they look for their next meal. You may see their distinctive calling card on the hillsides (and we don’t just mean the chewed up vegetation!)

Unfortunately, they cause a lot of damage on public and private land, so they are in the sights of landowners, the regional council and DOC! So it is great to see recreational hunters actively targeting wallabies through this event.

If you missed the competition, there’s always next year. But in the meantime, you can still set your sights our way.

Some ‘hot spots’ for red-neck ‘roos are:

Don’t forget to:

P.S. Tried the famous Waimate wallaby pie?

Want to venture further into culinary wilderness? Here’s links to three recipes for mouth-watering wallaby:

1 Comment | Animal pests, Canterbury, Hunting | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by smankelowdoc

Chatham Island oystercatchers – a summer at the beach

February 27, 2012

Ranger Eigill Wahlberg spent 2 years living and working on the Chatham Islands before heading off for a two year stint on Stewart Island.  This summer he’s been back on the Chatham Islands undertaking predator control and nest monitoring for the world’s rarest oystercatcher – the Chatham Island Oystercatcher.

Chatham Island oystercatcher

Chatham Island oystercatcher

Once numbering just 52 birds, the Chatham Island oystercatcher population now stands at around 300 birds due to predator control and habitat protection.  While present on some of the islands rocky coasts, the beautiful sandy beaches on the islands north coast are the stronghold for the species, but also present one of the largest challenges – marram grass.  Introduced in the 1920’s to stop sand dune movement and protect farmland, marram has edged out other native dune species and covered the open areas in which oystercatchers prefer to nest.  This forces the oystercatchers to nest close to the high-tide line and risk their eggs being swept away in a storm.

Eigill’s summer at the beach included finding and regularly checking each oystercatcher nest.  If the nest was too close to the tide line, Eigill would move the eggs a meter or two a day up the beach to safer ground.  As long as the movements weren’t too big the parent birds happily reoccupy the ‘new’ nest.

Eigill checking oystercatcher chicks

Eigill checking oystercatcher chicks - there's one hiding in the foreground

Eigll’s other task was reducing the risk posed to the oystercatchers by predators. Feral cats are, like in many other places in the country, a significant issue, however the Chatham Islands have a unique problem – the weka.  Introduced to Chatham Island in 1911, the eastern buff weka has prospered and regularly clog traps set for cats.  This year Eigill had to evict some 253 of them from his traps!

Determining the fate of each nest has made Eigill a bit of a detective.  A nest with 3 eggs has been observed for a couple of weeks and then suddenly the nest is empty.  Did the chick hatch (and where are they), are there any cat or weka tracks, what about broken eggshell or remains?  I found out firsthand how difficult it is to spot oystercatcher eggs and chicks among the sand, driftwood and seaweed when I got to spend a day out with Eigill on beach patrol.  Oystercatcher nests are not elaborate affairs, just a scrape in the sand, often adjacent to a scrap of driftwood or seaweed.  The well camouflaged chicks leave the nest immediately but stay in the territory, meaning 100m or more of the beach needs to be painstakingly searched in order to find them.  During one of these searches Eigill found a chick that had met an unusual death – having got a wing stuck in a piece of plastic debris from a fishing buoy.

Oystercatcher nest

Finding such well camoflaged eggs is not easy

Despite Eigill’s care, not all the nests survived.  High seas accounted for some, cats and weka accounted for others, but overall breeding success was significantly higher than in recent years – good on ya Eigill!

Eigill's summer at the beach

Eigill's summer at the beach

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Posted by Dave Houston

If these walls could talk… deer culler huts tell tales of our past

February 20, 2012

Everyone who has tramped or hunted in the back country knows that feeling; when you clear that last ridge or walk out of that last patch of forest to see the hut just ahead in the distance. Your pack suddenly gets a little lighter and you feel a sudden burst of energy that sets you steaming towards tonight’s home away from home.

But as you take off your boots at the front door, have you ever thought about all the others that have done the very same thing before you? That you are the latest player in a history that goes back decades?

Hunters arrive at historic Shutes Hut; photo David Yule.

Hunters arrive at historic Shute's Hut (1920 rabbiters hut)

The back-country of New Zealand contains about 1400 huts, a network unequalled anywhere in the world. And over half of these were built for government shooters.

Historic huts are more than just shelter; they are a reminder of the past and a link to our cultural heritage.

“So oil up your boots my boys, and check your pack and gun
The deer are far too numerous, there’s culling to be done.”
(Caughley, G.)

Deer culling sorted the men out from the boys

Deer were first introduced into New Zealand over 150 years ago, to hunt for sport. They spread so far and so fast they became a serious pest.

In the 1930s the government (Department of Internal Affairs) started paying shooters to go into the backcountry to reduce deer numbers and slow their spread. It was tough work, both physically and mentally.

Some of the earlier huts were built by the deer cullers themselves. Because these huts were built in remote locations, they often used what was on site, using old crafts for the last time like splitting, hewing, pit-sawing.

A new generation of culler huts

When the New Zealand Forest Service (NZFS) took over responsibility for deer control in 1956, they quickly began creating a network of tracks, bridges and huts for deer cullers who practically lived in the backcountry.

The first steel metal huts were cold and uncomfortable, and were soon replaced by the standard NZFS-designed wooden-framed and lined four and six-bunk huts in the valleys, and two-bunk bivs on the passes.

Muddy Stream Hut.

Muddy Stream Hut St James Range.

Many of these lasted far beyond their expected lifespan and still stand today, used by modern trampers and hunters. They have become an iconic feature of our New Zealand back country and are unique in the world.

Good keen men

The deer cullers were admired for the difficult job they did. They became an iconic – almost mythic – figure in the New Zealand landscape, thanks in part to the many books written about their exploits. They played a big part in creating the legend of the kiwi bloke, or as Barry Crump phrased it, the “good keen man”. The hut was an ever-present stage in these books.

State-funded deer culling continued until the early 1970s but faded out after commercial hunters using helicopters became more common. However, the legacy of the deer culler lives on, in their huts.

Cedar Flat Hut, West Coast.

Cedar Flat Hut

Why not plan your next trip to one of these historic huts?

Roger’s Hut (1952) One of three remaining slab-beech huts in the entire Urewera Range, built in the winter of 1952 by a team of cullers led by Rex Forrester.

Te Totara Hut (1952) is the oldest surviving hut in Te Urewera National Park, also built by Rex Forrester, from split totara slabs.

Cedar Flat, (1957) on the Toaroha Track inland from Hokitika was built from a mix of sawn air-dropped timbers and hand-adzed timbers from the surrounding bush. 

Slaty Creek Hut (1952) Another West Coast hut, built of pit-sawn totara slabs with an iron roof.

Dasler Biv (1966) in Mackenzie Basin was first known as Cullers Biv. This two bunk hut was built by NZFS with treated wooden piles, flat tin walls and chimney, and corrugated iron roof.

Caswell Sound Hut (1949) is the last physical remnant of the New Zealand-American Fiordland scientific expedition set up to study the Fiordland Wapiti herd. It was built of surplus supplies at the end of the expedition, so it would be used by Wapiti hunters.

Clark Hut (1941) the last remaining split beech log hut in Fiordland National Park was built by cullers Archie Clark and Allan Cookson. Archie Clark, the first deer culler in the area, was a local legend, an expert stalker and a crack shot.

Muddy Stream Hut (1965) was built in the St James range, Lewis Pass. In 2006 DOC donated the hut to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve who restored and officially opened it within the reserve during Conservation Week, August 2006.

Children hear a tale or two from old deer culler Bill Scott 2006.

Children hear a tale or two from old deer culler Bill Scott outside Muddy Stream Hut in 2006.

Further reading

Caughley, G. (1983) The Deer Wars: the story of deer in New Zealand (Heinemann).

Wild animal control huts 

Wild Animal Control Huts: A National Heritage Identification Study (PDF, 5514K)

6 Comments | Animal pests, Historic, Hunting, Huts and campsites | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by smankelowdoc

Jobs at DOC: Hunter, Kim Dawick

August 22, 2011

Every Monday Jobs at DOC will take you behind the scenes and into the jobs, the challenges, the highlights, and the personalities of the people who work at the Department of Conservation.

This week we look at DOC hunter, Kim Dawick:

Kim (left), with his dogs Jake, Fleur and Jesse, and Joe Gurnick (right), with his dogs Girl and Storm. Te Mata Hut

At work…

Name: Kim Dawick

Position: Ranger – Hunter Supervisor, Waikato hunting team

What kind of things do you do in your role?

I work as part of a seven person hunting team. We hunt the remote back country culling goats; occasionally we also control pigs and deer if they are causing problems to other work programmes. We camp together in huts, tents or bivies for ten day runs and then we come out for a four day rest period.

My main role is to support the hunters. It’s a very strategic position where I try to have everything organised in advance, accommodating the individual needs of six others who will all be away from home for ten days without communication. If I’m doing my job properly I should have pre-empted all the possible contingencies and the hunters should think that I’ve done nothing at all. But if I’m failing in my role… all hell breaks loose and nothing goes to plan with seven people on “hurry up and wait’’ or worst case we are stuck in isolation with inadequate equipment.

Two of Kim's favourite former goat dogs, Jimmy and Jesse, holding hands

In our team we collectively own 21 dogs. To maintain high standards we put all newly recruited dogs through a rigorous selection and training process, but unfortunately only about 20% of the dogs we trial ever eventuate into anything special. Those dogs in the upper percentile that do make the cut are worth their weight in gold and no dollar value can be put on them, as by this time at least two years of intensive hunting/training has been invested in them. Our dogs are part of the family and we really look after them—they are the real hunters and we just follow them around in the bush to take their glory.

What is the best part about your job?

We work off track, and go to places so remote that very few people will ever venture. I get to work with real characters; it takes a special person to be able to do this job. But one thing they all have in common is that they are all honest, tough people who measure the value of a person by their loyalty and the amount of work they can do in a day.

What is the hardest part about your job?

It’s a tough job, period.

Gentle Annie in Te Mata. Dogs are Beau, Jimmy, Jesse and Jake and the ‘’Where’s Wally’’ hiding near the waterfall is Joe Gurnick

Where we work there is no cell phone reception, no internet, no heaters, no electricity, no refrigeration, no toilets, no corner store or supermarkets. We have to be successful at our job or we would go hungry because we rely on getting some of the meat from the animals we hunt due to lack of refrigeration. Often the only way out is a pre-scheduled helicopter ride in ten days time. We walk for eight hours a day, all completely off track without a break for ten days in a row, and often team members will hunt in excess of 12-hour a days in the summer months and they never collect TOIL. But when it’s your passion it never quite feels like work (in the conventional way).

We spend ten days away from our families—this means that the hunters only see their wives and children for 26, four-day periods a year! Our families are stuck in the real world paying the bills, getting kids to school, working in their own jobs and dealing with all the issues of raising a family by themselves, while we are away completely out of contact. It’s very hard on relationships and many marriages don’t survive. But, given the high risk nature of hunting, we try to look after each other as much as we can and because of this there is a comradery amongst the hunters that I’ve never witnessed in any other career.

What led you to your role in DOC?

After high school I qualified as a mechanical engineer, then did a post graduate Diploma in Teaching. I worked for a couple of years in both roles however, I was never happy in these careers. Whilst on my OE (teaching in London) my wife stumbled onto a job advertising for a couple wanted for work in Scotland. We had no idea what we were getting into and just hoped that it wasn’t a dodgy b-grade porn film! It turned out that they needed a nanny and someone to work the ‘farm’. It was quite fortuitous—the ‘farm’ turned out to be a castle game estate that ran driven pheasant shoots and deer stalking. I worked in this role for about 18 months and decided that I could never go back to teaching or engineering again… I was hooked on hunting for a living, so it was a natural progression for me to end up securing a job within a DOC hunting team upon my return to New Zealand in 2004.

After 18 days hunting in gorse in the Coromandel with zero goats for a four man team, Kim struck the jackpot and shot 19 in one mob. Dogs are Jake, Jimmy, Fleur and Jesse

What was the highlight of your month just gone?

This month I’ve been doing my planning for the year ahead, organising logistics, landowner permissions and putting out tenders for goat control. I wouldn’t call it an exciting month.

The rule of three…

Three loves

  1. Family
  2. Dogs
  3. The ease at which we can experience so many interesting things in New Zealand

Three pet peeves

  1. Laziness
  2. Quitters 
  3. Liars

Three foods

  1. Banana Swiss Maid dairy food
  2. Goody goody gumdrops ice cream
  3. Meat

Three favourite places in New Zealand

  1. Coromandel
  2. Marlborough Sounds
  3. Matawai

Favourite movie, album, book

  1. Donnie Darko
  2. Anything ‘’unplugged’’
  3. More of a magazine reader than a novel reader… it suits my short attention span.

Jake (the Muss) and Xena bailing a nanny goat, Whareorino

Deep and meaningful

What piece of advice would you tell your 18 year old self?

Relax, you’ll find a job that you enjoy doing.

Who or what inspires you and why?

People who stand up for what they truly believe in, even if it’s unpopular.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Umm tall and good looking? Oh you mean: an engineer, a pilot or a hunter… two out of three isn’t too bad eh?

And now, if you weren’t working at DOC, what would you want to be?

Stay at home dad? Although this is most likely a bit like hunting for a living… everyone wants to do it, until they actually try it.

If you could be any New Zealand native species for a day, what would you be and why?

As a goat hunter we tend to defend our honour a lot by denying any involvement between man and beast. However, if you want me to play this game I may as well be at the top of the food chain and choose to be a falcon. I guess it combines two out of three from that other question before about what I wanted to be when I grew up!

What piece of advice or message would you want to give to New Zealanders when it comes to conservation?

Get out there and do it. It’s a sad indictment, but I hardly ever meet New Zealanders in the bush. Probably 85% of the people I meet in the bush are tourists using our walking tracks, 5% would be New Zealand tramping clubs made up of senior citizens (good on you, you’re much tougher than our PS3 playing teenage couch potatoes) and 10% would be hunters. Pretty sad really that we pay for all these huts and walking tracks with our taxes and the average New Zealander doesn’t even know they exist, or choose to go there.

2 Comments | Animal pests, Hunting, Jobs at DOC, Uncategorized, Waikato | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Department of Conservation

Jobs at DOC: Kiwi ranger and rodent dog handler, Miriam Ritchie

August 15, 2011

Every Monday Jobs at DOC will take you behind the scenes and into the jobs, the challenges, the highlights, and the personalities of the people who work at the Department of Conservation.

This week we look at kiwi ranger and rodent dog handler, Miriam Ritchie:

At work:

Miriam Ritchie holding a kiwi

Name:  Miriam Robin Deans Ritchie

Job:  Kiwi ranger and rodent dog handler, Whangarei Area Office

Describe your role

I have two part-time roles: I monitor kiwi in the Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary to gather data for a long-term study of Northern North Island Brown Kiwi, and do some predator trapping within the sanctuary. I also do surveillance and monitoring of New Zealand’s offshore islands and rodent-free mainland sites with my certified rodent dog, Occi. 

Miriam with rodent dog, Occi

What kind of work /projects are you currently involved in?

I am currently removing transmitters from most of our adult kiwi sample as our project is undergoing a major change from intensive kiwi monitoring to a community relations/kiwi vs. dog advocacy campaign. I am also spending a bit of time with my dogs in the Bay of Islands working on Project Island Song, hunting down a trickle of invading rats that are threatening the potential rat-free status of the islands.

What led you to your current role in DOC?

Hard work, Raoul Island, persistence and taking opportunities.

Taking a helicopter ride to Three Kings Island

The rule of three…

Three loves

  1. Bush
  2. Coast 
  3. Freedom

Three pet peeves

  1. Injuries
  2. Being late
  3. People trying to run me over on my bike

Miriam and Occi

Getting personal:

What three things do you always have in your refrigerator?

  1. Some greenery
  2. Cooked rice
  3. A half-eaten avocado

What was your favourite birthday present as a kid?

My first pony—her name was Kindy, and I had her ’til she died at 27 years old.

Tell us about your 15 minutes of fame

Hah, I think that’s yet to come.

Miriam with 'rodent dog'

What is your dream holiday location or activity?

A chunk of swimmable coast, some hills to sweat up and some dogs to chase.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?

Plant things, garden, ride my bike and explore with my dogs.  

What was the most useful thing that somebody once told you?

I don’t think anyone told me this but with hard work and the will, you can do anything.

Name a book and movie you would recommend: 

Wouldn’t presume to be able to do that, people vary too much in what they like! Although…

Occi staying safe in his high visibility outfit

Book: John Salmon’s Native Trees of New Zealand, despite being a bit out of date now, is a great reference book for anyone who loves the bush. Movie: The Flying Scotsman. 

If there was a competition for best place in New Zealand where would get your vote?

North Cape, Cape Reinga, Cape Maria Van Diemen—the tippy top of Northland.

And if there was one native species that ruled them all, what would be your pick?

Maybe the Kauri, being from Northland and all. They are pretty awesome in every sense!

Leave a Comment » | Animal pests, Jobs at DOC, Kiwi, Northland, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Department of Conservation

All quiet on the stoat front

July 1, 2011

Mustelid detective hound, Crete, and handler Scott Theobold, will be back on Kapiti Island this week. For the next half a year they’ll be there regularly, for up to a week at a time, to scope the joint for any more signs of stoat action. 

Kapiti Island and the Marine Reserve, as seen from the lookout Paekakariki Hill.

I myself, being an urban DOC-ette, have only seen a stoat once – it ran across the road in front of the family car on a Fiordland camping holiday. But I didn’t like the look of its face and am thrilled that, so far, no more signs of his kin have been found on Kapiti.  Have any of you guys seen stoats in the wild before?  

As for the famous stoat caught on Kapiti last year: We’ve found some scat since his capture, but DNA analysis has shown up inconclusive – we don’t know if it’s from our original guy or a  different one. We’ll have to wait and see whether Scott and Crete track down anything more on their future visits. 

Hamish Farrell with the dead stoat he found on Kapiti Island

So, while  all  may seem quiet on the stoat front at present, bio-security work continues. Along with checking traps and tracking tunnels every fortnight, and sniffer dogs and handlers doing their thing, there’s also track maintenance happening all over the island.

North Island Kaka, Kapiti Island

So, thanks to all involved in the work on Kapiti Island. Providing a threat free sanctuary for our treasured wildlife is wonderful – but it isn’t easy.

3 Comments | Animal pests, Wellington | Permalink
Posted by Tessa Rain

Ulva Island Eradication Update: 21 April 2011

April 21, 2011

 
The DOC website has the latest updates on the Ulva Island rat eradication.
___________________________________

The work on Ulva Island continues to progress, with the work focussed on planning for an eradication option and obtaining the resource consent for this work.

Operational planning

Planning work is progressing well, key decisions have been made about bait storage, loading site, re-fuelling site etc and organisation of these and other aspects of the operation is well on track.

Documentation such as contracts (bait supply, aerial bait spread), operational plan etc are either completed or in final draft phase.

The operational plan has been sent to the Islands Eradication Advisory Group for feedback, (including questions raised by the community such as merits of pre-feeding and best practice for sowing the coast).

IEAG is a team of DOC experts who provide worldwide technical support for island eradication operations. New Zealand leads the world in this field and the meeting was attended by people from far flung places such as French Polynesia, California and the UK, all seeking advice on how to go about eradicating rats from islands.
Calibration of the helicopter buckets has been organised for the last week of April (April 27th). Bucket Calibration is an important step in the eradication process and is carried out in a flat mowed paddock where all bait can be seen and counted. Non-toxic bait is sown through the bucket that is to be used in the operation and the machinery is tweaked to ensure that bait is sown to the correct swath width (i.e. width of strip sown with bait on each pass) and that the correct number of pellets per hectare are sown. Once the correct bait application spread and rate has been achieved the bucket settings are noted so that the toxic bait can be spread correctly on the day.

Biosecurity meeting

As mentioned in the last update, a public meeting will be held at 7.30pm on 28th of April in the Stewart Island Community Centre. This meeting will discuss any and all ideas about possible ways to improve the biosecurity on Ulva Island to further reduce the chances of rats establishing in the future. If you have any ideas, or are simply interested to hear what might be proposed, please come along.

Monitoring

The University of Otago’s bird research group (who monitor robins on Ulva Island every summer) have offered to monitor the effects of the baiting operation and the effects that the rats have had on the birds on Ulva Island. It will be great to have this independent monitoring of the operation.

Trapping stopped

Some confusion seems to have arisen around the reasons as to why we have stopped trapping on Ulva Island.

The long term exisiting biosecurity measures on the island are aimed at preventing a rat population becoming established. In this case, they have failed and a rat population has established. Continuing to run these traps and bait stations will not even now slow the rat population expansion and is therefore considered to be a waste of time. Servicing them has stopped so we can focus efforts on a proper eradication attempt. This has been misinterpreted by some as DOC giving up. The fact is that we are well down the planning track for an aerial eradication attempt.

Regards

Brent

4 Comments | Animal pests, Southland, Ulva Island, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brent Beaven

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