Figure 1: Tracking rates in the Western Wellington Forests – Otari/Wilton's Bush KNE site area. Toggle through the tabs to see different animals, hover over the charts series to specific results, and click on legend entries to highlight and show/hide series. Use the month checkboxes on the top-right of charts to show/hide data from those monitoring months.
Figure 2: Western Wellington Forests – Otari/Wilton's Bush KNE site area, showing the locations of the tracking tunnels.
Pest animal control regime: Possum and rodent control is undertaken with 82 Pelifeed bait stations using brodifacoum poison bait on a 150 m x 150 m grid. The network is serviced four times a year at intervals of three months by Biosecurity staff.
Mustelid control using 44 DOC 200 kill-traps is undertaken on off main walking tracks. Volunteers service this four times a year at three monthly intervals.
Pest animal control milestones: Cyanide paste and baits containing brodifacoum were initially used in 1993. The bait station network was installed in 1997 on a 150 m x 150 m grid using brodifacoum cereal pellets. Biosecurity staff serviced the network four times a year. The DOC200 kill-traps were installed in 2007 and are serviced by volunteers.
Seventy-six DOC200-style traps were installed in the southern half of the KNE site (the monitoring area) between 2017 and 2019 in preparation for commencing control of hedgehogs and mustelids. Servicing of the traps commenced progressively from early 2019 starting from the western side. Servicing some traps on the eastern side has yet to begin.
Surrounding pest control regimes: Timms traps were deployed on the Skyline Track to target re-invading possums. Bait stations and DOC 200 kill-traps in neighbouring Chartwell/Johnston Hill Reserve areas are contiguous with the Otari trapping regime. The Regional Possum Predator Control Programme is operating to the west of the KNE site.