Why predator free?

An estimated 68,000 native birds are killed in New Zealand by introduced predators every night

By removing possums, rats and mustelids from New Zealand, native species like tīeke (saddleback), hihi (stichbird), kākā (bush parrot), kākāriki (New Zealand parakeet) and toutouwai (North Island robin), which are already naturally colonising predator free islands in the Hauraki Gulf, will find safe habitats to thrive.

Not just birds, but lizards too

Waiheke Island has three gecko species; the forest geckos, pacific geckos, and Auckland green geckos. They are all tree-dwellers. Waiheke Island also has copper and ornate skinks; possibly shore skinks but not confirmed. Auckland Council has established a baseline monitoring programme around Whakanewha Regional Park with a five year resurvey period to measure abundance inside and outside an area where pest control is being undertaken.

What’s so bad about rats, stoats and possums?

Rats, stoats and possums kill millions of native birds every year and have pushed species to the brink of extinction. Managing just these three predators for agriculture and conservation costs over $70 million each year. Rats have been introduced across the globe by human activities. They threaten the survival of many native species from invertebrates like wētā and snails to lizards and birds. Rats eat almost anything which makes them a direct threat and in direct competition with native wildlife. They are common agricultural, industrial and domestic pests and cause a lot of economic damage as well as posing a risk to human health. Stoats are one of the mustelid family (along with ferrets and weasels) which were introduced to manage rabbit plagues and found an unwanted place in New Zealand’s landscape.

They have caused the extinction of several New Zealand bird species and are the major cause of decline for many other species, including reptiles and invertebrates. Stoats attack defenceless young kiwi and are the most significant contributor to the continuing decline of mainland kiwi populations. Many kākā populations in New Zealand have a male bias because stoats attack chicks and females on their nests.

Native bird extinction

The combined effects of introduced predators has resulted in the extinction of 52% of North Island and 47% of South Island birds. And the decline continues at an alarming rate. We can’t reverse extinction, but we can halt the decline of those that remain.

What’s the difference between eradication and control?

Both eradication and control are important areas of work. The support, funding, and hours of work (often voluntary) controlling rats to low levels is critical for places where eradication isn’t yet possible, to hold invasive species at bay and prevent the extinction of our native species. While control operations reduce a risk to native species, eradications remove a risk to native species and therefore allow biodiversity to truly flourish.

Eradication

• Eradication is the removal of the entire population of an invasive species and ensuring they can’t come back.

• Eradication operations methodically work through an operational plan with ever-increasing scrutiny to find and kill the last rat from the entire landscape.