There are a lot of cats in Australia – researchers have calculated that the total number of feral cats in largely natural landscapes averages 2.07 million (varying between 1.4 ...
Search Results for: cats
Feral cats are nocturnal, elusive creatures and can cover a lot of ground. They can range up to 6 kilometres, making monitoring difficult. So how do you go about ...
Barbara Clarke’s cats, Sammy and Smudge enjoy a fantastic view over the Pukawa bush reserve from their favourite sunspot on the deck. But because they’re indoor cats that’s as ...
When scientists studying the dynamics of a Norway rat colony in New York had some wild cats moved in on the experiment, they took the opportunity to see how ...
‘Giant rats’ in our cities have hit the media headlines in recent weeks and, while ‘rats as big as cats’ are unlikely to be stalking the suburbs, there do ...
Trials are in full swing down in the Southern Ocean exploring whether it’s possible to rid Auckland Island of its three remaining introduced predators – pigs, cats and mice. ...
Cats, cat management and the impact of cats on conservation – it seems that everyone in New Zealand has an opinion and a significant proportion of us own at ...
While PFNZ Trust focuses on 5 key introduced predator species (possums, rats, ferrets, stoats and weasels), we acknowledge that domestic pets – both cats and dogs – are also ...
Aotearoa New Zealand has made huge strides towards the Predator Free 2050 (PF2050) goal, but many believe we need new technologies to get to the finish line. It might ...
Before the arrival of humans, the Chatham Islands were teeming with animal life. Geographically isolated for millions of years, fauna and flora living on the Chathams evolved into unique ...
The Trust recently undertook some research to “Better understand the health of the Predator Free movement”. The research measures New Zealanders’ awareness and understanding of Predator Free 2050 as ...
Trapping using food-based lures of hens’ eggs and rabbit meat, with long-life rabbit is the main stoat control method in New Zealand. But stoats vary in their food preferences ...
Want to do your part to protect our native species but can’t find the time? We’ve got some good news, busy people – joining the predator free movement doesn’t ...
New research published in the New Zealand Journal of Zoology shows that mast years are bad news for kea. Native beech trees produce millions of tasty seeds in a ...
Below are some tried and tested baits and lures for predator control. Have you got more for us to add to the list? Get in touch. ON THIS PAGE ...
Kiwi are the most translocated bird species in Aotearoa New Zealand and the number of new projects and released birds are steadily increasing, according to a recent report in ...
In the middle of the night, huddled with her team on an island in the Hauraki Gulf, Predator Free Apprentice Marcia Welch sits and waits. She’s listening out for ...
A seven-year Department of Conservation study into combined predator control methods has revealed great news for the survival of our native whio (blue ducks). The findings show that 1080 ...
Dubbed ‘the clever clowns of the Alps’, kea are much loved for their cheeky spirit and keen intelligence. So it can be shocking to learn that these fun-loving birds ...
Every day, conservation volunteers like Sara Smerdon work towards getting their patch predator free. But unlike most, Sara lives in the very forest she protects. This International Women’s Day ...
Steep streams, turbulent rapids and huge boulders are terrains too rough for most ducks – but perfect for a whio (blue duck). It’s Whio Awareness Month! So, let’s have ...
What’s it like meeting Merv the kākāpō? Ask Jack Fifield – a 26-year-old Predator Free Apprentice passionate about his work in pest control. But, if you’d asked Jack 10 ...
Cupid’s bow and arrow have well and truly hit their mark this kākāpō breeding season. We’ve seen mammoth mating sessions, super-sized clutches, and reclusive bachelors getting back in the ...
A unique summer visitor to Aotearoa, the shining cuckoo (pīpīwharauroa) only graces our shores in the warmer months, migrating to the tropics once our weather starts to turn cooler. ...
To survive and succeed in the wild, every meal an introduced predator eats has to be worth the effort and energy it takes to obtain it. Bird eggs and ...
Aotearoa New Zealand might be known as a ‘land of birds’ but we’ve teamed up with local illustrator Erin Forsyth to highlight native lizards in a beautiful new poster ...
Kererū (kukupa) are big, beautiful and often unintentionally comic birds that are easily recognised, even when flying. They’re one of the biggest pigeons in the world and can live ...
We may be a nation of bird nerds but our native geckos are noteworthy too! There are at least 44 species of native geckos, and more continue to be ...
Not everyone can tell a mohua from a yellowhammer or even a kea from a kaka, but it would be a pretty rare New Zealander who didn’t know a ...
Fondly referred to by some as ‘Dots’, New Zealand dotterels are appealing little shore birds, their sharp ‘cheep’ call signalling their constant alertness to possible danger. They need to ...
It’s warming up. Our days are getting longer. Many of us are keen to get out and enjoy the outdoors, even if it’s in our own backyards. A lot ...
For 10 years, Brad Windust has been trapping introduced predators in sections of the Ōpua State Forest. The Ōpua State Forest spans 2000 hectares and is a coastal lowland ...
Wildlife photographer Sam Purdie is capturing our lesser-known natives on camera. He hopes that by photographing them, it will raise the awareness of these special and often endangered species. ...
We have identified three field trips that are available in the Taranaki region for schools. RELATED Nationwide field trips Lesson plans and activities Help your wildlife thrive at school ...
Love the idea of attracting native wildlife into your backyard? Planting natives, providing the right food and creating safe spaces are all great ways to make your garden a ...
Love the idea of attracting native wildlife into your backyard? Here are 5 ways to make your garden a safe haven. 1. Trap rats Attracting native species to your ...
We regularly host webinars on a range of predator control topics. Below are the recorded versions. Sign up to our newsletter or follow us on social media to get ...
The Trapinator is suitable for low-density possum control. With its one-movement-set arm and easy baiting system, the Trapinator was specifically designed to control possums in Aotearoa New Zealand. ON ...
If you don’t want to handle dead rats or reset a trap too often, the Goodnature A24 self-resetting rat trap is a great option. ON THIS PAGE How to ...
We have written an at-a-glance summary of baits available in New Zealand with details about each bait. ON THIS PAGE Overview Summary of baits Brodifacoum Bromadiolone Cholecalciferol Coumateralyl Diphacinone Pindone PAPP ...
We have identified the following predator control courses available for secondary schools around Aotearoa New Zealand. ON THIS PAGE Papa Taiao Earthcare EcoQuest Te Rarangahau Taiao Northland Regional Council ...
1080 is one of the most effective tools we have available in New Zealand to control introduced predators, especially over large or hard to reach areas. On this page ...
A wetland is an area that is saturated by water for most (or all) of the time. To form a wetland, surface water either collects at ground level or ...
Possum control may feel daunting over vast tracts of land, but having effective systems in place will make a big difference. Below we summarise the pros and cons of ...
New Zealand bats/pekapeka are our only endemic (unique to New Zealand) land mammals. There are three bat species and all have declined in population over the centuries since humans ...
Herpetofauna are reptiles and amphibians from a particular region. New Zealand’s herpetofauna species include lizards/ngārara (skinks and geckos), frogs/pepeketua, and tuatara. ON THIS PAGE How are they monitored? Native ...
There’s no magic bullet; all tools have their advantages, limitations and consequences. Overuse of the same tool will reduce its effectiveness. Tool selection depends on each situation: habitat, scale, ...
Ko ahau te taiao, ko te taiao, ko ahau. I am nature; nature is me.— Māori whakataukī (proverb) ON THIS PAGE What is Mātauranga Māori? The importance of Mātauranga Māori ...
This page includes advice on communicating with your members, stakeholders such as sponsors or committee members, the media, and the general public. ON THIS PAGE Why is communicating so ...
This week marks the publication of the Maukahuka Pest Free Auckland Island project report on the technical feasibility of eradicating pigs, cats and mice from Auckland Island. This is ...
Wrybills, the little shore birds with a bend in their beak, are only found in New Zealand. They breed on the South Island’s braided rivers with well-camouflaged eggs and ...
New Zealand’s native species are taonga. In te ao Māori, taonga applies to anything treasured or prized including things of social and cultural value. Our native birds, lizards, bats ...
Auckland Island (57,000 ha), in the New Zealand subantarctic islands, are a Nature Reserve, a World Heritage site, and home to some of the world’s most extraordinary natural heritage. ...
Predator Free Rakiura aims to completely remove possums, rats, feral cats and hedgehogs from Stewart Island/Rakiura. ON THIS PAGE Stewart Island/Rakiura Predator Free Rakiura Stewart Island/Rakiura Stewart Island/Rakiura is ...
Predator Free Hawke’s Bay is made up of three restoration projects that bring together community and landowner conservation efforts to enhance their native biodiversity. ON THIS PAGE Poutiri Ao ...
A common way to monitor what insects or lizards are around, is to use a live-capture pitfall trap which skinks, geckos and ground-based insects then fall into. With lizards, ...
A recent study by Brandon Breedt and Carolyn King provides the first estimates of the proportion of the Waikato Region occupied by each of the target introduced mammal predator ...
Aotearoa is an island nation with four large islands surrounded by hundreds of offshore islands. We have 890 islands bigger than one hectare and 334 of those are over ...
Currently, Aotearoa New Zealand is experiencing a biodiversity crisis. We have the highest rate of threatened indigenous species in the world. ON THIS PAGE Why should Aotearoa NZ be ...
Weasels are small, active hunters that target small animals and insects. They are less common in NZ than stoats. ON THIS PAGE How did they get here? What do ...
Ferrets prey on invertebrates, lizards and birds. They are active at night and mainly hunt rabbits and rodents, but have contributed to the decline of native birds like the ...
Stoats hunt day and night, move quickly, and prey on our native birds, insects, and much more – including animals bigger than themselves. ON THIS PAGE How did they ...
Aotearoa New Zealand has the highest rate of cat ownership in the world. Cats are unusual in that they are a predator of our native species, as well as ...
Rats eat wētā and other insects, snails, frogs, lizards, tuatara, birds, birds’ eggs and bats, as well as the flowers, fruits and seeds of plants. They breed rapidly and ...
Before embarking on any predator control, it’s important to know which introduced predators you’re dealing with and also understand their behaviour and habits. That way, you can choose the ...
Even ocean-going birds need to come ashore to breed and when they do, they bring a gift from the oceans with them – nutrient-rich guano (otherwise known as seabird ...
Annual bird counts show that banded dotterels have been declining on our braided rivers for many years. But there’s good news amongst the bad. A recently published analysis of ...
Its name is Wētāpunga – named for the God of Ugly Things. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and some would say our giant wētā is ...
What don’t we know? What challenges need further investigation? In January of this year, Predator Free 2050 Ltd announced two funding initiatives – one for doctorate and post-doctorate research ...
Take a drive along Coromandel’s spectacular scenic 309 Road and there’s a spot, somewhere around halfway between Coromandel town and Whitianga where a tarseal street branches off from the ...
It’s important to know which predators you’re targeting to ensure you use the right baits and traps. The most common introduced predator in backyards tends to be rats, but ...
What a difference 20 years makes! The lizards of Kāpiti Island have now had 20 years of living rat-free and researchers Jennifer Gollin, Nic Gorman and Doug Armstrong have ...
Ernie Mason remembers that growing up, helping his parents break in their farm, he was always a kid for the bush… always hunting. Its a love that’s stayed with ...
Dan Herries manages Taramoa Station in Puketitiri, Hawke’s Bay, a 564 hectare sheep and beef farm which lies between two significant and beautiful blocks of forest – an 800-year-old, ...
Researchers Susan Walker, Joshua Kemp, Graeme Elliott, Corey Mosen and John Innes used 264,457 rodent tracking records collected quarterly from 23,709 tracking tunnel stations in forests across the length ...
When you remove predators from islands and restore forest habitat, the expectation is that native forest birds will flourish and that the new ‘improved’ conditions may favour native birds ...
Mark and Felicity Brough have created a biodiversity map of their sheep and beef farm at Paerua near Waitomo, in the central King Country. It shows where on the ...
Little penguins in Kaikōura have been doing their bit to try and keep species numbers buoyant – with multiple nesting per breeding season and some birds even resorting to ...
While others may have been more idle than usual during the recent Covid 19 Lockdown, 97-year-old Peter Whitehead was busy in his workshop building trapboxes to help protect the ...
Sanctuary fences keep predators out – but they’ve also become a popular ‘highway’ for ship rats travelling around the sanctuary exterior. Rats have discovered that the rolled steel hood ...
On the Southland Plains near Winton, Motu Ngahere (‘Island of Bush’) is one of the very few original native bush remnants left in the area – literally an ‘island’ ...
Jane and Roger Hutchings haven’t had a dog on Lodore Farm, their 450-hectare Northland property, in over 20 years – but they do have a lot of North Island ...
Did you know there were once horses on the Auckland Islands? Possums were deliberately introduced too but didn’t last long. Hardly surprising. It’s a harsh environment and not remotely ...
This is the fourth blog from our guest writer John Bissell. Read his introductory blog, or blogs on trap selection and trap placement. Kia ora, Lures are one of ...
This is the third blog from our guest writer John Bissell. Read his introductory blog and his second one on trap selection. This blog covers trap placement and for ...
April is ‘Takahē Awareness Month’ and really it seems like the big blue/green bird could do with some extra publicity. A check of the ‘Bird of the Year’ winners ...
This is the second blog from our guest writer John Bissell. His previous blog is here. Hi folks, I hope this next blog finds you all safe and well. ...
Tīeke have a legendary reputation as guardians, weather-predictors, fortune-tellers and guides, although their saddle-like markings are said to be a sign that they once displeased Māui-pōtiki and were marked ...
Achieving Predator Free 2050 goals will take more than just a scaling-up of eradication efforts according to researchers Duane Peltzer et al from Landcare Research (Lincoln) and the University ...
We are pleased to announce the addition of another 11 communities to our Predator Free Community programme — taking the total number of communities we support to 66. The ...
The results of the latest Public Perceptions of New Zealand’s Environment have just been released and, as with the previous survey in 2016, the research includes a section produced ...
A survey of 71 islands in southern Fiordland in the summer of 2017, by researchers from Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Department of Conservation, found ...
Dr Carolyn King has spent a lifetime studying New Zealand’s introduced mammalian predators and is recognised as an international expert on mustelids. Meticulous historical and scientific research, along with ...
As 2019 ends, so does the feasibility stage of the Maukahuka Pest Free Auckland Island project. This ambitious project proposes to eradicate pigs, mice and cats from Auckland Island ...
If you park up at the beach with a feed of fish and chips it can seem like red-billed gulls are common and thriving. But 52 years’ worth of ...
Approximately one-third of New Zealand’s islands are now free of all invasive mammals. Could Auckland Island be next? Predator control and eradication operations are often carried out in winter ...
City dwellers and urban lizard gardens could play a significant role in future skink and gecko conservation in New Zealand, according to research just published in the journal Landscape ...
It’s ‘all go’ for yellow-eyed penguins – 2019 Bird of the Year – and those who help protect them. ‘Penguin Season’ is underway in Otago and Southland as staff ...
Up until the 1950s, most pest control toxins for vertebrates, including rats, were fast-acting. While a quick death for pests is a good thing humane-wise, the issue was, rats ...
For the last 20 years or so, an area of gravel has been slowly forming at Robinson Bay on the Eastbourne foreshore, just across the harbour from Wellington City. ...