Sign In / Register
The countdown has started for the 10 North Island brown kiwi who will be relocated from Motoura Island to Mt Tamahunga next month.
Their return will mark 50 years since kiwi were last seen on the mountain.
An open day was held at Matakana Hall on February 6 to give residents a chance to understand the history of the project and what it will take to make it a success.
Translocation leader Sue Cameron, who is a founding member of Tamahunga Trappers, the group behind the project, says the event will be the culmination of 11 years of predator control in the Omaha Ecological Area.
She says returning kiwi to Tamahunga is just part of re-establishing the maunga’s natural ecosystem.
The group started in 2010 with 54 traps and caught 90 animals. Last year, they set 225 traps along 10 trap lines and caught 226 predators. Traps are checked monthly and baited with donated eggs.
The 570 hectares covered by the Tamahunga Trappers is being augmented by the Forest Bridge Trust, which is creating an expanding buffer zone around the mountain.
Sue says the level of support and cooperation across a range of landowners, organisations, iwi, Auckland Council and the Department of Conservation has been a hallmark of the project.
“It has been a real team effort that started three long years ago. We have had many delays, so I’m very proud that we now ready to accept the birds.
“This is a forever project. There will always need to be people who are prepared to undertake predator control until NZ is predator-free. Only then will the kiwi be safe.
“It won’t happen in my lifetime, but I want my grandchildren to be able to walk through the forest and see a probe hole and know that kiwi are sleeping close by.”
Each kiwi will be fitted with a microchip before being released and volunteers have been receiving training with radio-telemetry tracking equipment, which will monitor the birds’ survival and breeding. The kiwi will be released in four locations, including two in the iwi reserve on the summit.
In the Mahurangi/Kaipara district, kiwi can already be found at Mataia on the Kaipara Harbour, Marunui in the Brynderwyns, Kawau Island and Tawharanui.
The Forest Bridge Trust would like to hear from any landholders in the wider Tamahunga area who would be willing to trap on their properties. The trust can supply tools, training and advice. For more information, contact Michelle Worth on 022 493 1051 or michelle@theforestbridgetrust.org.nz
Sue Cameron would welcome enquiries from anyone interested in joining the Tamahunga Trappers. She says the arrival of the kiwi will mean additional work and more volunteers would make the job easier for everyone. A reasonable level of fitness is required. Those interested should contact Nicole at tamahungatrappers@hotmail.co.nz
Kiwi aversion training for dogs
While rates and mice compete with the kiwi for food, and stoats and weasels will eat kiwi eggs, dogs and ferrets are by far the worst predators because they will kill the birds. In the wild, kiwi can live for more than 50 years but because of dogs, the average adult life expectancy is just 13 years. T
raps are set to combat stoats, but community education will be the key to controlling the dogs. To this end, Tamahunga Trappers is running kiwi aversion training for dogs on February 26 and March 20.
The February 26 course is already fully booked, but there are still spaces on the March course. Dog owners in Matakana, on Govan Wilson, Matakana Valley, Omaha Valley and Rodney roads are being encouraged to book their dogs in.
Trainer James McLaughlin says training takes about five minutes using kiwi props, and kiwi poo and scent.
He says it is very effective in teaching the dog to avoid kiwi, although an annual refresher session is recommended.
Info: tamahungatrappers@hotmail.co.nz or phone Trish on 027 585 035.
