Via Newstalk ZB
​
New Zealand's largest ever pest control operation will be launched this winter in an effort to protect the country's vulnerable birds.
​
In a pre-Budget announcement at the National Party conference in Auckland today, Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said $20.7 million in funding would be allocated to Battle for our Birds 2016.

As the Department of Conservation gears up for another large pest-control operation Samantha Gee finds out if the last one worked and what the future of predator control looks like.
​
A small yellow insect-eating bird with a loud melodious call is what first drew Graeme Elliott into the world of New Zealand's native birds.

Elliott, a self-confessed "nerdy little birdy kid" was raised in Christchurch and spent family holidays in Nelson where he remembers climbing Mt Arthur to look across the huge expanse of Kahurangi National Park, and wonder what was out there.

Opinion: a new possum control effort across the Rimutaka Ranges aims to rid New Zealand of bovine tuberculosis, says Matthew Hall.

An aerial possum control operation is planned for the Southern Rimutaka Ranges this spring as part of the drive towards eventual eradication of bovine tuberculosis from New Zealand.

The operation proposed for September is supported by the Department of Conservation, and community consultation and public meetings have been scheduled to determine the exact size of the control area, water supplies and exclusion zones.
​
The proposed area includes the East Harbour Regional Park where the Eastbourne forest rangers have been performing effective possum control since 1933, and the Orongorongo Valley, where community groups such as the Moa Conservation Trust have contributed enormously to supporting biodiversity with voluntary possum control. The wider Southern Rimutaka area has not been treated with an aerial operation before.

Potential "rodent plagues" across the country may prompt more large-scale drops of controversial poison 1080, just two years after the most wide-scale drop in New Zealand history.
​
Early indications from the Department of Conservation (Doc) suggest that 2016 will be another beech mast year, in which seeds from flowering beech forests fall to the ground, attracting large numbers of rats and stoats.

The last mast, in 2014, was a one in 10-15 year event, and led to rodent invasions in Arthur's Pass and Nelson city. Masts typically occur every two to six years.

1080 is being credited with a breakthrough in the conservation of kokako in Auckland's Hunua Ranges.

For the first time ever, a pair of kokako have been nesting outside Hunua's intensively managed kōkako conservation area.

It follows Auckland Council's two 1080 drops over 21,500 hectares of conservation and forest land in the Hunua Ranges in August and September.

DoC scientist says result helped breeding birds but is disappointed some pests survived.

A major 1080 poison offensive succeeded in wiping out 95 per cent of rats and 85 per cent of stoats in targeted forests around the country, but the result was still below what a Department of Conservation scientist was hoping for.

As part of a $ 21 million project dubbed The Battle for our Birds, DoC staff launched 27 aerial pest control operations between last August and February over hundreds of thousands of hectares of beech forest, mainly in the South Island.

Monitoring studies show that targeted pest control operations last summer have led to record survival rates for short-tailed bats in the Eglinton valley in Fiordland.
DOC undertook a coordinated pest control programme in the Fiordland National Park valley last spring to combat a beech seed-fuelled rat and stoat plague over the summer.

Results show 99% of the bat population survived following the Battle for our Birds pest control operation.

This is almost twice the survival rates (50-60%) shown to occur without pest control in a beech mast (seeding) year.

The New Zealand Herald

Dog-owners will be discouraged from taking their pets into Auckland's Hunua Ranges for at least four months after a major drop of 1080 poison began today.

Watercare has taken two of its four Hunua supply dams out of service until they receive a clean bill of health, and three regional parks have been closed to the public for five days.

For all you need to know on the Hunua Ranges 1080 operation click here.

Radio New Zealand

The drop is part of a strategy will target a plague of rats and possums threatening native species in the ranges.

It will be made in three stages over two weeks, starting today with non-toxic bait to get the pests used to it, and the poison will follow in about a week.

Auckland Council said a total of about 50 tonnes of bait would be dropped over 21,500 hectares.

Listen to the bulletin on Radio New Zealand here

Auckland City Council

Auckland Council's planned pest control operation in the Hunua Ranges, surrounding reserve land and some private land, is close to getting underway.

From next week, the operational team will be closely watching the weather forecast to determine an optimal weather ‘window’ for the first stage of the operation.