Animal pests are decimating natural wildlife in New Zealand forests. They do this by predation – eating small birds, birds’ eggs, lizards, and insects. They also compete with our wildlife by eating plants, insects and seeds.
Rats, cats, stoats, possums, rabbits and hedgehogs all have a detrimental effect on our wildlife.
Centennial Park Bush Society volunteers are trapping for possums, rats and stoats, to try to protect our birds and other small animals from predation. We have two trap lines 100m apart with traps every 50m. One is up the kohekohe valley and the other midway between the valley and the Aberdeen track. These two lines are monitored regularly by four keen volunteers. Initially we caught a lot of possums but in the past year we have caught none. We continue to catch many rats, mice and two weasels. Eventually there will be a grid of traplines covering the entire park which will significantly impact on pest numbers. In addition we intend to place bait stations in private land throughout the bay (with landowner consent of course), again in lines 100m apart with bait stations every 50m. By doing this we should be able to significantly reduce the rat population in the bay, which should translate into more birdlife. If you would like to assist with monitoring a trap line or having a bait station at your place, please let us know.
For more information see ARC Pest animals
