Stoat sighting on the Miramar Peninsula
Miramar P
eninsula’s biosecurity systems are being put to the test with a male stoat sighted on the peninsula.
“The stoat has been detected on Predator Free Wellington’s monitoring cameras and was also sighted by residents.
James Willcocks, Project Director said the reality of our project is that reinvasion is a constant threat and this stoat detection is proof that our biosecurity systems are working exactly as planned.
“The monitoring cameras provide us with good intelligence. We are able to determine from the photos that it is a male stoat, which is good news, as it means we are dealing with a solitary animal which means there’s no risk of breeding,” said James.
“The skill set to catch a solitary animal is very different to general pest suppression. A lot of it comes down to mindset and strategy.
“As a world-first multi-species elimination project, we are wanting to ensure we are learning every step of the way and building approaches that can be replicated. Our response needs to be clever, it also needs to be cost-efficient.” said James.
“A big part of this efficiency is our community approach, we are investing in behaviour change and building capability at a community level.
“This last week we enlisted additional help from John Bissell, Backblocks Environmental Management Ltd, his specialty is finding and removing one predator in a large landscape.
John provided on the ground training to both Predator Free Wellington’s field staff and Predator Free Miramar volunteers and explained how catching a solitary animal is more of a hunt than an exact science.
Predator Free Miramar Lead Dan Henry, said whilst his team would prefer not to have a stoat on the peninsula, this is an exciting challenge for the volunteers. It’s what they are trained to do and we have a good picture of the stoat’s movement and can respond accordingly.
“Our goal is to outwit this animal and not to panic,” said Dan.
“The volunteers will be thinking about the terrain and how the stoat is moving around the peninsula, and we will be moving the right traps into the right place to catch it. We will also be using cameras to our advantage,” said Dan.
Predator Free Wellington is asking for the community to report any sightings to Predator Free Wellington via their 0800 NO RATS hotline.
Predator Free Wellington has launched a fundraising campaign to help cover the costs of managing the ever-growing predator free areas across Wellington, and hold the line against rats, stoats, weasels and possums reinvading. To make a donation, please visit https://holdtheline.pfw.org.nz/.
Posted: 9 May 2024