Taupō District Council staff and pest control experts from Call of the Wild set up a trapping line in Spa Park, Taupō in early 2024. Since then, they’ve caught, 332 pests, including 40 possums and a whopping 217 rats. This trapline complements Predator Free Taupō and Greening Taupō projects in the area.

Taupō District Council district ecological ranger Brenna Bird says controlling predators helps the ecosystem by reducing numbers of invasive species that damage native wildlife.

“Rats, hedgehogs, and stoats can consume thousands of insects, eggs, and birds a year,” Brenna says. “Possums strip the trees of their leaves and can eventually kill them. We want to protect regenerating native trees and provide safe habitats for our native wildlife.”

Environmental advisor Emma Naylor says all traps at Spa Park are mechanical and use non-toxic bait.

“All our traps are National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) certified, so fully humane. We don’t use any poisons, since this is a park where dogs and kids can roam.

“The programme is working really well - we’re seeing and hearing more tūī, korimako (bellbird), pōpokotea (whitehead), riroriro (grey warbler) and pīpīwharauroa (shining cuckoo).

“Miromiro (tomtits) have also been spotted here. They are very vulnerable to introduced predators, so this is an indicator of how successful the trapping has been,” she says.

Sometimes Brenna and Emma will bring extra volunteers along on their trap run: Tahi, a labrador, and ex-pound dog Baxter. The dogs help the team by indicating areas where predators are travelling and foraging, so their human teammates can put the traps in more efficient places.

Emma and Brenna ask that if you do come across a trap, to leave it alone and call any children or dogs away from it.

“We keep traps away from the main areas where people walk, as there may be dead pests nearby which help attract more pests to the traps,” Brenna explains.

“We have found some traps thrown down a bank which was a real bummer. And sometimes kids will poke sticks in them to try to set them off or put their hands in which isn’t safe.

“We like to have the traps checked weekly, so we have a really good idea of what’s going on.”

The team is looking for community volunteers to take the reins and lead this project going forward.

“The project has been successful to date, but we want community support to keep it going,” Emma says. “It’s not a big time commitment, it could be a day a week or once a month. If we all pitch in, we can make a real difference.”

If you want to get stuck into protecting our native birds and plants, visit predatorfreetaupo.nz or get involved with a council trapping project by emailing parkssrs@taupo.govt.nz.

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