After many years of trap checks and rechecks, hiking up and down the same hill, baiting and rebaiting, tweaking, adjusting, listening, monitoring and the checking of camera footage, Ruakiwi Farm finally has evidence that the hard work has paid off – a kiwi on trail cam!
This pest control project in Haruru, Bay of Islands, sits between Opua State Forest and the Waitangi Endowment Forest. Ruakiwi Farm’s important work complements the efforts of Bay Bush Action to the south, and Iwi Kiwi Waitangi to the North. The project is an important ‘piece in the puzzle’ of the Mid North High Value Area, now in its eighth year of filling gaps in the Mid North pest control network, and connecting and empowering community led conservation.
Ruakiwi Farm’s strategic location and sustained pest control has helped stop pests that would otherwise move between Bay Bush Action and Iwi Kiwi. Whilst kiwi in Waitangi may not hesitate to cross the Waitangi stream into Haruru, pests will use the bridge. The farm has been carrying out pest control for over 7 years, starting with intensive trapping, and then moving to a winter toxin operation, with trapping to maintain suppression of pest numbers.
Maree Lord, from Ruakiwi Farm explains:
“We had one possum that we just couldn’t catch. We tried every type of trap, lure and bait, but he wasn’t interested. That’s when we decided to incorporate a toxin operation, hoping that he’d find that more palatable.”
The toxin operation was successful and after many years of pest control, the Farm is now looking at monitoring to help understand and inform the effectiveness of future operations.
“We’ve had a trail cam out for some time as part of monitoring for pests, but recently we had something amazing happen – we saw a kiwi for the first time” Maree added. “We’ve called him ‘Tahi’, our first kiwi to come back to the farm.”
The return of this taonga (treasure) marks a special moment, and is testament to the hard work of the Mid North projects that have worked to reduce pest numbers, and the local Haruru residents who keep their dogs under control and the kiwi safe.
