Striking remote camera images show introduced predators are abundant on Rakiura/Stewart Island, and they need to be urgently controlled this winter to protect pukunui/southern New Zealand dotterel and other native species.
The most extensive study of predators on Rakiura
Nearly 300 trail cameras have been set up across approximately 3,000 hectares to monitor the abundance of feral cats, rats and possums before, during and after an upcoming aerial predator control operation. This action is part of the Department of Conservation’s Pukunui Recovery Project.
With only 105 pukunui left, the operation aims to save the native bird from extinction by controlling predators, especially feral cats, across approximately 43,000 hectares. It’s the largest predator control operation ever on Rakiura. It will also be the most extensive study of predators on the island.
Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) has also established a network of trail cameras to gather data about rats and deer to inform future Predator Free Rakiura operations.
Thousands of images were taken in the first round of monitoring over a two-week period in May this year within the pukunui operational area. As expected, they show high numbers of introduced predators, as well as tokoeka kiwi and white-tailed deer which are also being monitored as species of interest.
Tītī/sooty shearwater were also observed and in one instance you can see a feral cat chasing one of the native sea birds and another shows a dangerously close interaction. See the striking photos below.
The first phase of the pukunui operation is complete, and the second phase is scheduled to run from late July / early August, prior to the pukunui breeding season when the birds head up into the mountains to nest.
How do the cameras work and where are they?
The trail cameras are programmed to take bursts of photos when they sense movement, and a lure is set up in front of each camera to attract animals. The lure usually consists of fresh rabbit meat wrapped in a wire cage along with two terracotta tubes with a rabbit scent inside them. The photos are processed and sorted, with the help of AI, to identify and group photos of individual species and their locations.
The cameras are set up from sea level at Doughboy Bay up and over the tops of the Tin Range where one of the last pukunui breeding grounds is located. There are also trail camera grids outside of the operational area at East Ruggedy and towards Mason Bay beach at Kilbride to serve as comparison sites.
The camera grids will stay in place throughout the year, and images will be processed every three months or so to assess changes in the abundance of target predators and help measure the results of the operation.
Learn more about the Pukukui Recovery Project. Preparing for a new generation of ‘underbirds’ on Rakiura | Conservation blog
Trail camera photo gallery
Take a look at some of the photos from the first round of camera monitoring. DOC will continue to share more images and data as it becomes available.
Rakiura tokoeka kiwi marching home after a long night’s work. They are doing well on Rakiura because there aren’t any stoats. They will be even safer once we get feral cat numbers down and their habitat will improve with less rats and possums around eating forest food and plants.
Time for extermination. As DOC has known this for years and has been too scared of the domestic cat lobby, as have the politicians.
Can someone at DoC get in touch with me? I’d like to restart the conversation about using AI and other technologies to make processing the images from these cameras much easier and more scalable. Thanks!
Kia ora Luan,
We recommend contacting info@doc.govt.nz with your query, they will be able to direct you to the correct team who can help with this further.
Thanks.
Human education is very important too.
Those feral cats are a direct result of people leaving or loosing their domestic cat.
Sad to say but all cats are killers given the opportunity, Spaying and Neutering all cats is just a start.
GO YOU GOOD THINGS!!
(paraphrasing Peter Fitzsimmon)
These trail camera shots a such great advocacy
tools as most people don’t realise the carnage that is taking place after dark in the wilds.
Kia kaha to the DOC team especially those having to put up with the anti brigade in Halfmoon Bay.
What a complete waste of time and money! We have known that cats are an issue on Stewart Island for a long time, that’s why they had to move the Kakapo to Codfish Island back in the 1980s. No one seems to worry that despite 40 years in existence DOC hasn’t managed to stop the decline in our native species – simple reason they waste so much money and always wait till the last moment to do something (think Kiwi, Kokako, Kakapo and Takahe just some examples). A few years ago they again spent a small fortune monitoring 21 kiwi chicks in Fiordland that were all munted by stoats – yet we’ve known since 1996 that stoats take 95% of kiwi chicks – go figure.
Kia ora. The goal of this monitoring plan is not to assess the impact of feral cats on native species, it is to measure the results of our predator control operation.
The clarity of the pics is so good. There is no time to lose to protect the native species and the ecosystem. To protect the ecosystem, deer should be targeted as well.
Total and complete pest eradication can not come quickly enough, but when??
Imagine this area being an abundant and pristine native flora and fauna island.
It would be the Gem of the Southern Hemisphere.
Kia ora. Predator eradication trials are underway. Predator Free Rakiura is working towards a large-scale eradication operation across approximately 10,000 hectares at the southern tip of the island next year.
I have to agree, Imagine the increase in tourist numbers down there. The sooner they start, the better off the the native fauna and flora will be. If the deer are a causality then so be it. They need to rid the island of red deer anyway
Hi, its very pleasing to see the good work being done on Stewart Island and a big thanks to all.
Sooner the better. It’s depressing to constantly see confirmation of the large numbers of predators around and see that we are still waiting for an operation to start. We walked the great walk on Rakiura last year and were surprised at the lack of bird life through the forest plus how close to the huts the pests were coming ~ rats possums and deer.
This drop needs to be done as soon as, what a sad state of affairs. Deer have also being caught on Camera eating the eggs of ground nesting birds. At least targeting the others is a huge step in the right direction. Bring it on.
Is there any way 1080 or whatever other bait works could be integrated seamlessly with the cameras so we can “catch and zap” seamlessly? Be great if so…
Kia ora Peter. Our aim is to measure the relative abundance of feral cats, rats and possums in the operational area before, during and after predator control. This will help us to measure the results of the predator control operation.