A newly long-term study reveals kiwi chicks located in a North Island forest are more likely to survive following the aerial 1080 operation, where the poison is dropped, to control pests.
Kiwi chicks in Tongariro forest more likely to survive after 1080 poison dropped, DOC study finds17/4/2019
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Conservation managers are bracing for the biggest seeding event in New Zealand's forests for more than 40 years. Forest seeding, or masting, provides a bonanza of food for native species but also fuels rodent and stoat plagues. The Department of Conservation (DoC) is now planning its biggest ever predator control programme, at a cost of $38 million. It will target rats, stoats and possums over about one million hectares or 12 per cent of conservation land. Priority sites include Kahurangi, Abel Tasman, Arthur's Pass, Westland, Mt Aspiring and Fiordland national parks, the Catlins and Whirinaki. More than 66,000ha will be covered with trapping – and the rest with aerial 1080 poison drops. Science reporter Jamie Morton spoke to DoC principal science advisor Dr Graeme Elliott about the challenge.
The Department of Conservation (DoC) has significantly increased its spending on finding alternatives to 1080.
Documents obtained by Newshub show since 2011, the trend in spending has jumped from $1.06 million a year to $3.55 million planned spend in 2018/19. 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. 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. The University of Auckland's Dr Cate Macinnis-Ng makes a case for why we can't leave our vulnerable native species to fend for themselves in forests where predators roam.
The first western Fiordland 1080 project will start mid-next year in the hope of bringing the stoat-ridden area's kiwi back from the brink.
The Department of Conservation (DoC) is crediting predator control work for thriving numbers of two bat species and native birds in Fiordland National Park.
Summer monitoring has found numbers of the rare southern short-tailed bat are on the rise in its last remaining stronghold. DoC says it shows a mix of trapping, ground-based pesticides and periodic aerial 1080 drops are working. A charitable trust is 'extremely annoyed' an old photo of dead kiwi is being repurposed by anti-1080 campaigners.
In 2016, the Bay Bush Action Group posted an image on its Facebook page of around 50 dead kiwi that were killed in the Kerikeri region by dogs and cars. The image has recently been used by other individuals and groups claiming the birds were killed by the pesticide 1080. An aerial 1080 drop in the Ruahine ranges appears to have obliterated the rat and possum population.
The Department of Conservation carried out the 'Northern Ruahine Battle for our Birds operation' on November 13-15. The date of the drop had been kept quiet as the department held fears staff could be threatened. Police had been notified about a DOC staff member being intimidated by a member of the public in Manawatū early last month after the operation had been announced. |
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