By Kim Choe
Two of the Hauraki Gulf's iconic islands are on the verge of being declared pest free for the first time in over a century.
The Department of Conservation’s (DOC) eradication project has moved into its monitoring phase, but there is still one crafty cat and a few hedgehogs to capture before threatened plants and animals can be reintroduced.
It may look like an island sanctuary but amongst the rugged terrain on Rangitoto and Motutapu islands, DOC has been undertaking an ambitious project.
Richard Griffiths, Pest Eradication project manager, says the assignment is a world first.
“We're eradicating seven pest species from an area that's nearly 4,000 hectares,” he says.
“We've never before eradicated mice, ship rats, rabbits, or hedgehogs from such a large area.”
The project is winding down after a series of successful poison drops and trappings last year.
Mr Griffiths says the results have been positive.
“We haven't detected any rats or mice since we carried out the rodent eradications, stoats are probably gone now and likewise rabbits,” he says.
But there is one last cat that is not in the bag yet. Its footprints have been seen but it's still proving elusive.
Michelle Weakley, of the Cat Eradication Team, says the last cat is proving more cunning then the rest.
“We need to outsmart this cat. Because we haven't caught him yet it means he doesn't like what all the other cats like - so we have to be pretty nifty about it,” she says.
For the teams dedicated to finding other pests, it's now just a question of constant monitoring - a tedious task at times.
Because of the nocturnal nature of pests like hedgehogs, surveillance happens around the clock.
The programme has already had a noticeable affect on bird life, with red-crowned parakeets, or kakariki, arriving from nearby Motuihe Island.
“They obviously felt that they preferred Motutapu and Rangitoto and have turned up much sooner than we would've expected,” says Mr Griffiths.
“They're now breeding here, and they can only breed here because of the absence of those pests.”
Even though the eradication project already appears to have been successful, DOC says it will wait until there are no signs of any pests for at least another year before giving the islands the green light.
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