Source: NZ Department of Conservation
Date: 16 June 2025
The western-most of three mountain ranges in Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki, Kaitake is the focus for a joint predator control programme involving the Department of Conservation (DOC), Taranaki Maunga Project, iwi and other community collaborators.
DOC Biodiversity Ranger Brandon Kingi says a comparison of images captured by the trail cameras dotted across the Kaitake shows a dramatic decrease in predators like possums, stoats and feral cats – and a notable increase in protected native species like kiwi, which have been successfully reintroduced to the area.
“We’ve seen a big fall in the number of feral cats caught on our cameras, which shows the 1080 operation has effectively controlled them,” says Brandon.
“Immediately after the operation in November last year, the number of cats detected dropped almost overnight — from about 95 per cent of the cameras showing feral cats, to about 1 per cent.
“There was a similar result for stoats — they were seen on our cameras before the operation, then they had almost vanished when we checked the cameras afterwards.”
The predator control methods used at Kaitake also include bait stations and leg-hold possum traps.
Brandon says keeping predator numbers down requires hard physical labour, carried out by staff from DOC and Taranaki Maunga Project, as well as volunteers and paid staff from iwi and community groups.
“The community collaborators contributing to Kaitake working to protect biodiversity on the maunga have also helped control rats and mustelids.”
Brandon says the successful measured reduction of predators at Kaitake demonstrates how a trapping network extends the benefits from aerial operations by reducing predator reinvasion. There are also anecdotal observations of more birdlife across the range and a healthier forest.
“The camera data is another tangible measure that the hard work by kaimahi and volunteers removing predators and reintroducing kiwi is paying off,” says Sean Zieltjes, Taranaki Maunga Project Pou Whakahaere Taurua/Co-Project Director.
“It shows the power of community involvement to really make a difference in driving biodiversity improvements.
“Kaitake didn’t have a particular focus for Taranaki Mounga Project when we started nearly a decade ago but then the community support changed that. Relationships fostered with Ngā Mahanga a Tāiri, the Kaitake Conservation Ranges Trust, schools, landowners, and other groups and agencies, have snowballed into achieving much more than we could ever have done working separately.”
Organisations contributing to predator control and species protection at Kaitake are Kaitake Conservation Ranges Trust, Ngā Mahanga a Tāiri hapu, environmental educators Te Ara Taio, and numerous schools. Taranaki Kiwi Trust, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, Ngāti Koroki Kahukura and Save the Kiwi have all contributed to the return of kiwi to the maunga.
Invasive species are putting immense pressure on New Zealand’s ecosystems. Aotearoa has one of the highest rates of threatened species in the world – 4,000. Once our unique native species are gone, they are gone for good. The results at Kaitake demonstrate a small but important success in protecting native species.
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