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The Department of Conservation is concerned after a higher percentage of rats than expected have survived the first 1080 drops intended to battle this years "mega mast".
This year's build-up of the rat population in New Zealand forests can be attributed to unusually high seed production, called a mast, experts have said.
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Official maps released today have revealed the vast swathe of New Zealand wilderness under threat from a plague-fuelling "mega mast" - but officials say response plans can't be scaled up.
Forest & Bird is warning a nationwide rat plague is only about to get worse, and has pleaded with the Government and councils to increase their 1080 rat control programmes, before a stoat plague comes next. Possum numbers in the West Coast's Perth River Valley area have potentially reduced from roughly 10,000 to just 30 after a new technique was used in a 1080 operation.
Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) is in charge of the operation in the Perth River Valley area in South Westland. The operation is halfway through and has involved the deployment of 4 kilograms of 1080 per hectare so far. An aerial drop of 1080 is set for a large area of the Kahurangi National Park to control a booming rat population.
This year's beech mast, or heavy seed production, is expected to lead to a heavy breeding season for rats taking advantage of the abundant food source. In an unexpected result, scientists encountered more deer in South Westland forest blocks after 1080 drops than before the drops.
They also encountered and saw the same numbers of deer in 1080 drop zones as they did in zones where 1080 was not dropped. The Department of Conservation is attributing the reduction of rat numbers in the Mokaihaha Ecological Area, southwest of Rotorua, to a three-tonne 1080 aerial drop.
Native birds are thriving in Auckland's Hunua Ranges following a 1080 drop that has decimated the rat and possum population, Auckland Council says.
The aerial application of 1080 across 22,000 hectares of forest in late 2018 was conducted by the council in partnership with the Department of Conservation. For more than 30 years Project Crimson has led efforts to save New Zealand's pōhutukawa and rātā trees, which were on the point of extinction in the 1980s.
Now, the organisation is supporting the use of 1080 to control the introduced animal pests that it says are wreaking havoc on the country's unique biodiversity. The Environmental Protection Authority will investigate a 1080 drop which left eight cattle dead in the Waikato.
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