In late June, Doc did an aerial 1080 drop covering 40,000ha over the north and south peninsulas of Wet Jacket Arm.
Results had so far shown a significant decrease in stoats, the No1 predator of kiwi chicks in the area.
A Department of Conservation ranger who has monitored the survival of kiwi chicks in Fiordland for three years is hoping more birds will survive this breeding season, thanks to reduced stoat numbers.
In late June, Doc did an aerial 1080 drop covering 40,000ha over the north and south peninsulas of Wet Jacket Arm. Results had so far shown a significant decrease in stoats, the No1 predator of kiwi chicks in the area.
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Don’t take your dog to pet-friendly campsites of the Kauaeranga Valley this Christmas.
They will be decidedly pet-unfriendly following a 1080 drop. The Department of Conservation has confirmed the area is the site for a Tiakina Ngā Manu predator control operation that involves aerial 1080. A discovery that kea might be able to learn to detect toxic 1080 bait by how it looks could be a breakthrough in teaching them not to eat it.
The controversial poison is used widely to control pests on conservation land, but it also killed non-targeted animals and birds - including, sometimes, the endangered kea. New research showed that an additive that made it "shiny", or that appealed to the parrot's ability to see ultraviolet colour, might be the tool needed to teach the curious alpine parrots to avoid the toxic pellets. Kea Conservation Trust patron Peter Hillary said the discovery was timely. Taranaki dairy farmer Fiona Henchman can now declare victory in a personal war of the roses she has waged against possums for a quarter of a century.
With husband John she has fought a backyard battle against thousands of possums hopping over the boundary fence from Egmont National Park to munch on fruit trees, grass pasture and treasured climbing roses. Pasture near the national park boundary has also taken a hammering, with the pests’ eating habits leaving the ground resembling a mown strip. Three takahē have died after aerial 1080 predator control in Kahurangi National Park at the top of the South Island, one likely due to 1080 poisoning.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) said the cause of death of the other two birds was still being investigated but 1080 poisoning was a possibility. Protecting forest canopy and native bird habitat is the focus of an upcoming Department of Conservation predator control operation at Pirongia Forest Park.
The park contains nationally significant examples of ecosystems and threatened taonga species, including grey warblers, fantails, tomtits, pipits, harriers, kingfishers, New Zealand falcons, kererū, tūī, rifleman, bellbirds and whiteheads. New Zealand's cheeky kea are among the brainiest birds on Earth – and now scientists think using that smarts could stop them eating the poison dropped to protect them.
How to stop some of the famously curious alpine parrots eating 1080 cereal baits deployed to kill their predators has been a headache facing conservationists. Approximately 40,000 ha of public conservation land in the remote Wet Jacket peninsula area of Fiordland National Park was included in the DOC’s Tiakina Ngā Manu predator control operation last month.
DOC Operations Director southern South Island Aaron Fleming says the primary purpose of this operation was to protect vulnerable kiwi chicks which have been suffering from heavy stoat predation. “Through the Save Our Iconic Kiwi programme, we’ve been monitoring kiwi chick survival at Shy Lake, in the northern peninsula, for the past three breeding seasons and every year it’s the same story. Chicks are hatching, but not making it to adulthood. A new rat poison and a camera that can detect and report predators are among new investments the government is funding as part of it predator-free 2050 goals. The government announced today $1.7 million in funding for four new projects via the Provincial Growth Fund.
Published by the Entomological Society of America
By Ravneel Chand and Belinda Cridge, Ph.D. Editor’s Note: Here at Entomology Today, integrated pest management is a vital subject, though one usually examined through its application to insect and arthropod pests. But IPM is a framework for management of all kinds of pests, and the Entomological Society of America’s Journal of Integrated Pest Management welcomes research from beyond the confines of entomology. Today we share a look at a new case study in JIPM on brushtail possums, a major pest in New Zealand, and state of IPM approaches toward it. |
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