Adding to our toolbox
The Karioi biodiversity rangers have been hard at work to intensify predator control on Karioi, targeting possums, stoats and rats at a landscape scale. Over the past 2 years, our dedicated team of rangers have cut kilometre after kilometre of tracks across 250 bushy hectares and installed 530 bait stations in preparation for ground control of predators. The work, funded by Waikato Regional Council and Lottery Environment and Heritage Fund, complements predator control work being done by hapu-led Te Iwi Tahi Pest on 200 hectares in the Wainui catchment, funded by the Department of Conservation.
The recent COVID-19 lockdown delayed the first deployment, which was planned for October. Despite this setback, mid-November saw phase one of the project’s first large-scale deployment, covering “nearly half the mountain, which feels like a real achievement,” says ranger Vili Fakavai. With amazing volunteers supporting the ranger team, one by one, each of these bait stations was carefully filled. This is a four-part operation; three of which have now been completed, with the final removal of any poison left over in the bait stations planned for early in the new year. This four-part process is to be repeated three times annually depending on funding availability.
Ground-based toxin applications such as this could potentially eliminate the need for future aerial applications of 1080 on Karioi, news well-received in our community. The biggest advantage of a ground-based application (over an aerial drop) is that all bait deployed is physically contained, specifically targeting predators, and minimises access by non-targeted species.
Of course, the Karioi Project will continue to use a variety of traps, regularly checked and maintained by 100+ dedicated volunteers. Bait now added to our tool box should yield even better results for local biodiversity with a target residual catch rate of less than 5%.
Jon Thomson, volunteering with the recent deployment, can see the benefit of using targeted toxins because “when a trap has been sprung, there is no remaining control until it is reset, whereas bait will remain active until it is all eaten/becomes unpalatable/is removed.” The team of rangers will continue to regularly monitor pest numbers and respond on an on-need basis.
About the first large-scale deployment, another volunteer Chris Aitchison says that “it was a good mission and [he] really enjoyed being part of it. [He’ll] be back next time for sure!” The help from our volunteers is much appreciated by our rangers since these are very labour-intensive endeavours. The Karioi Project will be reaching out to more volunteers to pitch in for these big, yet very satisfying days in Karioi’s ngahere. The next deployment will take place in March 2022. Reach out to Jasmine if you’d like to help out at karioi.volunteer@arocha.org
