Survey investigates huge volunteer contribution
It has been estimated that between 25,000 and 45,000 people belong to community-based environmental groups in New Zealand. That’s a lot of volunteer work and,…
Mice – should we be worried?
When there’s a mouse in your pantry you notice – but in the wider environment they’re common and inconspicuous. It’s difficult to know what impact…
Puketi Forest Trust’s battle for kōkako leads to breeding success
The kōkako are back and breeding successfully in Northland’s Puketi Forest, but it’s been a long battle to get them there – a battle fought…
Blue ducks – how different is ‘different’?
Blue ducks (whio) live in both the North and South Island – they’re isolated by distance, but how isolated are they genetically? Physically there are…
Children’s author goes ‘predator free’ in latest adventure novel
‘When children’s author, Jon Tucker, was a teenager growing up in Nelson, he married the girl next door and they began to build a boat…
Rats, elevation and implications of climate change
Ship rats are known to be good and climbing trees – but what are they like at climbing mountains? If our climate gets warmer, might…
Al Glen captures predator portraits on camera
Monitoring cryptic animals is one of the big challenges of becoming predator free, according to Auckland-based Landcare Research scientist, Dr Al Glen. “Predators are cryptic,”…
Conservation geneticists want to build a bridge to DOC
Conservation genetics has implications for all sorts of conservation measures. Whether it be choosing the source birds for a translocation to a new sanctuary to…
Stoat research is not for the squeamish
WARNING: [stomach] contents may disturb sensitive readers. When Jamie McAulay opens his mail in the morning he often finds “a lovely, delightful, maggoty mess!” Jamie…
What’s the story with genetic pest management (GPM)?
Breakthrough genetic technologies are likely to play a key role in achieving a predator-free future. But it’s important that we understand what the various technologies…
Wind beneath their wings
New Zealand is the albatross capital of the world, with more than a dozen varieties. So where do they all live and why are so…
Putting the case for ‘bottom up’
Mostly we get rid of introduced predators by, well – killing predators. It works, up to a point. But if you can’t get rid of…
Open Source is key to bringing back the cacophony
Early New Zealand was noisy. Cook and his crew experienced a ‘cacophony of sound’ on their first voyage. It’s that loud, raucous, exuberance which Banks…
Liberation of stoats and weasels – a look back in time
Why did they do it? What possessed New Zealand’s government of the day, its citizens and acclimatisation societies to introduce rabbits and then stoats? It’s…
Icy beginning for Mapua Dawn Chorus
Mapua Dawn Chorus held an open day recently to kick off their backyard trapping. There’s already an extensive trapping network around the nearby Waimea estuary,…
