Pests

Unfortunately there are a variety of pests on site. These include possums (which eat masses of native vegetation daily and have also been proven to eat bird chicks), cats, rats and stoats (all of which eat native animals such as birds, lizards, snails and insects) and magpies (very territorial birds that displace native birds). Again, no poison is being used to control these animals, but humane Timms traps are used to trap many of them. Being in an urban area cats will always be a problem, so an education program on how to reduce the chance that pets will harm native animals is planned. Local residents can help control these pests too by trapping in their own back yard.

If you live near a piece of bush you can hire Timms traps and rat traps from the Kaipatiki Project Environment Centre. These are humane kill traps that are designed to catch possums but will also occasionally catch rats. They are baited with apples or something similar. If you're a bit squeamish about touching them they can normally be released from the trap straight into where you're putting them without touching them, or can be removed using rubber dishwashing gloves.

MARSUPIALS: Possums (Trichosurus vulpecula)

While possums are protected by law in their native country of Australia they are considered a terrible threat to the forests and wildlife of New Zealand. It is estimated that there are 70 million possums in New Zealand, compared to roughly 40 million sheep. These possums chew through a phenomenal amount of vegetation per night and have also been caught eating eggs and young of endangered native birds.To reduce the pressure from possums in the Kaipatiki Stream Nature Reserve a trapping is done periodically.

MUSTELIDS: Weasles, Stoats, Ferrets

Mustelids in New Zealand include weasels, stoats and ferrets. They were introduced in the late 19th century to control the rabbits that were affecting the pastureland of New Zealand. Although they did not control the rabbit problem, all three species have established themselves well in the wild and have been implicated in the extinction or sudden reduction in numbers of 13 native species of bird. Mustelids may attack and kill animals that are much larger than themselves. At least one species of mustelid has been trapped at Kaipatiki- probably a stoat. There is concern that even a small population of these animals is having a detrimental effect on the local wildlife as they often prey on young birds and their eggs. Recent mustelid-specific trapping resulted in no other trapped animals, although mustelids are considered very difficult to trap, so this may not mean there are no more in the Reserve. Further trapping may be required in the future.

RODENTS:Rats, Mice

There are three species of rat in New Zealand, but at this stage only the ship rat (or black rat) has been seen at Kaipatiki. Ship rats are excellent climbers and often eat the eggs and chicks of birds as well as seeds and insects and sometimes even lizards. In this way they can have a large effect on native forest as they prevent plants from growing (by eating their seeds), compete with birds and lizards for insects and fruit as well as killing young birds and other small animals.