Dual 1080 bait switch solves bait-shy possum issues
When researchers tested a dual baiting regime on ship rats back in 2016-2017, they also made some interesting observations about possum behaviour in their study…
Marvellous, mysterious, amazing – what is this strange creature?
What am I? I lie on my back and play dead with my legs in the air and jaws wide open to fool predators –…
Rats on the move – how far do they disperse?
How far might young rats disperse if they find themselves in a place with few other rat competitors? It’s an important question, with implications for…
Yealands Estate adds trapping to their eco-friendly initiatives
Tara Smith is Sustainability Manager for Yealands Estate. The role is a new one – she started in May 2019 – but sustainability has been…
Checking up on the other yellow-eyed penguins
Yellow-eyed penguins (YEPs) are endemic and endangered and the Otago population is declining with poor breeding seasons and high adult mortality. But YEPs live in…
Oystercatcher on Mokau Estuary reaches venerable old age
How old can an old bird get? It depends on the species of course and the risks of predation and starvation and all the other…
‘Didymo Dave’ makes trout lures from stoat tails
Got a freshly dead stoat in your trap? Want to feed your family a tasty meal. No – we’re not offering up stoat recipes here.…
What’s happening up in the hood?
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…
Kiwi company exports NZ trapping expertise
Traps developed in New Zealand aren’t just saving our wildlife, they’re helping endangered wildlife all around the world. We lead the way in producing humane,…
Liverpool researchers study rat audio lures
Cautious rats – bait shy and trap shy – are a problem worldwide and researchers at the University of Liverpool, UK have been looking at…
Winton company takes on Motu Ngahere restoration project
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…
AviaNZ open-source software helps analyse bird calls
Birds are hard to see and sometimes shy of humans, so call counts are the way that population sizes are usually estimated. Automatic acoustic recorders…
Human impact on NZ birds measured in millions of years
The conservation decisions we make today will have an impact for millions of years! That’s the conclusion of authors Luis Valente, Rampal Etienne and Juan…
No working dogs but lots of kiwi on Okaihau dairy farm
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…
Auckland Islands introductions included horses, possums, chickens
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…
