Source: NZ Department of Conservation
A new service is helping conservation groups receive alerts when traps are triggered or bait stations need refilling, without the ongoing subscription costs that usually come with remote monitoring technology.
Developed by Groundtruth Ltd, the creators of Trap.NZ, and supported through the Department of Conservation’s Predator Free 2050 (PF2050) Tools to Market programme, the service allows traps, bait stations and monitoring devices to send information directly to Trap.NZ.
The innovation could save conservation groups significant time and money by reducing the need for routine trap checks and making remote monitoring more affordable. It gives people better visibility of their trapping networks and helps them respond when action is needed.
Saving time for trappers
Across Aotearoa New Zealand, thousands of volunteers, landowners and contractors dedicate their time to checking traps that protect native wildlife from introduced predators.
Frequent trap checks are essential for maintaining low pest numbers. However, most inspections find nothing has changed. Traps remain unsprung, bait stations are still stocked, and volunteers can spend hours travelling across rugged terrain simply to confirm that everything is operating as expected.
The new service helps change that. Rather than routinely walking traplines, users can receive notifications through the Trap.NZ website or mobile app when a trap has been sprung or a bait station requires attention.
This shift from scheduled checking to responding to genuine events has the potential to transform trapping operations, particularly in remote and rural areas where travel can consume a significant amount of time.
For volunteers and landowners balancing conservation work alongside other commitments, it means less time spent checking empty traps and more time focused on taking action when it’s needed.
Reducing the costs of technology
Small, battery-powered sensors attached to traps and bait stations can detect when maintenance is needed and automatically send updates to Trap.NZ, allowing users to view information and receive alerts without visiting the site. The information is transmitted via a Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), which can carry signals over several kilometres, depending on terrain and equipment.
Sensors are becoming increasingly affordable, with batteries typically lasting between two and five years, making remote monitoring a practical option for conservation projects across a wide range of landscapes.
While remote monitoring can save time in the field, most systems require ongoing subscription fees to connect devices and transmit data. A typical subscription costs around $1 to $2 per month per device, which can become a significant expense over the lifetime of a project and across large trap networks.
By removing those recurring costs, the new public-access network makes remote monitoring more affordable and accessible, enabling groups to make smarter, more informed decisions about trapping and predator management. Users still need to purchase sensors and gateways, but these are generally one-off setup costs rather than ongoing fees.
Detecting predators sooner
The benefits extend beyond reducing travel time and costs. Real-time notifications can help projects detect predator incursions sooner, providing an early warning when pests enter areas being managed for biodiversity protection.
Automated data collection gives project managers greater oversight of their trapping networks by recording trap activity and service events, helping streamline reporting, auditing and contractor management.
Remote monitoring can also help improve trapping outcomes. Data from self-resetting and gas-powered traps can identify pest hotspots, guide trap placement and alert managers to equipment failures before traps spend extended periods out of action.
The technology is expected to strengthen volunteer and landowner engagement as well. Instead of long periods without feedback, users can receive immediate confirmation when traps are triggered.
The new service builds on the success of Trap.NZ, which has grown from a tool used by a small number of projects into one of New Zealand’s largest environmental data platforms. Today, more than 10,000 projects and 70,000 registered members use the system, contributing more than 26 million records documenting conservation activity nationwide.
For more information, check out the following information pages on the Trap.NZ website
Trap.NZ LoRaWAN network service
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/11/06/new-service-makes-remote-trap-monitoring-more-affordable/