Goodnature trap networks on Tītī Islands help protect native birdlife and maintain muttonbird harvest

Rakiura Tītī Islands Administering Body installs fourth A24 rat control network on Tītī Islands

Rakiura Tītī Islands, Southland XXX – The Rakiura Tītī Islands Administering Body (RTIAB) has installed a number of rat traps on the Rakiura Tītī Islands (Muttonbird Islands) in a bid to protect native birdlife and maintain the sustainable harvest of tītī (muttonbird).

Last week, twenty-two Goodnature A24 self-resetting rat traps were installed on the Rakiura Tītī Islands – a group of 18 islands that sit north-east, east and south-west of Stewart Island (Rakiura). The new control networks were established on the Bunker Islands – a group of three small islets located in the north-eastern chain of the Tītī islands.

The Tītī Islands boast an array of birdlife including the yellow-eyed penguin, red and yellow-crowned kakariki, saddleback and Stewart Island robin. The predator control network has been installed to decrease the rat population which predates on the island’s plant and wildlife. A decrease in rodents will also help maintain the sustainable harvest of tītī for muttonbirding, which is a cultural tradition of Rakiura Māori.

Rakiura Tītī Islands work programme co-ordinator and RTIAB chairman Tane Davis says predator control trapping is crucial in protecting the islands’ biodiversity and cultural values.

“Protecting and preserving native species on the Rakiura Tītī Islands is an integral part of our work. Through the implementation of our first trap network several years ago, we’ve already seen noticeable changes from the increase of native plant life to hearing more bird calls throughout the islands,” he says. “Our goal is to see rats eradicated from all of the islands completely, so we can create a pest-free sanctuary for native plant and bird life to flourish for future generations to come.”

This is the fourth island trap installation for RTIAB which has been using Goodnature A24s for predator control since 2015.

The first rat control network of 30 traps was installed on 23-hectare Rukawahakura (Joshes Island) to offer secondary protection and constant control after a bait drop. As a result of successful predator control, the island was declared rat-free and the RTIAB was able to translocate two native bird species, the nationally vulnerable toutouwai (Stewart Island robin) and the tieke (saddleback), from the Rakiura Tītī Island of Putauhinu to Rukawahakura.

Control networks also exist on Rat Island and Kahuariki (Ernest Island).

As a result of the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, the RTIAB controls and manages the 18 former Crown islands, now known as Rakiura Tītī Islands. The Rakiura Tītī Islands are distinguished from the 18 Beneficial Tītī Islands which are reserved for families who can trace their ancestry back to one of the original chiefs who signed the 1864 Rakiura Deed of Cession.

The Tītī Islands are home to hundreds of thousands of tītī. Rakiura Māori, who are the only people who have rights to gather muttonbirds on the islands, gather tītī chicks each year in April and May. The harvest has huge cultural and economic significance for Rakiura Māori who have used muttonbirds as a food source and trade items for centuries.

Davis says the A24 trap is a key tool in its predator control network, as the islands are vacant for most of the year when muttonbirders are absent. Due to the traps self-resetting nature and long-life lure, Goodnature’s A24 rat trap only needs to be checked every six months when installed with the automatic lure pump (ALP). This provides constant control for months and means a reduction in labour costs associated with trap management. Davis also says the A24 offers a more environmentally-friendly approach to pest control than toxic baits, which Rakiura Maori are moving away from using on the islands.

New Zealand's tītī breeding colony has an estimated five million pairs in 80 breeding colonies, with about 150,000 young birds harvested each year as they are about to fledge.

The harvesting of muttonbirds is crucial to the island’s biodiversity – on islands abundant with tītī that are not harvested, (such as the Auckland Islands and the Snares) there is an over-population of muttonbirds that there is no room for new underground burrows. On the Tītī Islands, Rakiura Māori keep the numbers of birds down through sustainable harvesting, meaning that more eggs are laid and hatch successfully.

The A24, developed by Wellington conservation company Goodnature in partnership with DOC, is the world’s only predator trap which self-resets up to 24 times before it needs to be reloaded by a human. A24s are designed to kill more pests than traditional traps while also reducing the labour needed to check traps.

“Controlling invasive predators and the creation of pest-free sanctuaries are both critical to increasing native bird populations and maintaining a sustainable harvest of tītī,” says Sam Gibson, Goodnature technician.

“Muttonbirding is a significant part of Rakiura heritage so we’re excited to be collaborating with the Rakiura Tītī Islands Administering Body to help protect this important cultural tradition and the biodiversity on the Tītī Islands.”

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