Major milestone for kiwi project

The project to return kiwi to the capital has hit a milestone, with a rigorous trapping regime cutting predator numbers sufficiently to make Wellington’s west coast a suitable home.

The trapping efforts of Capital Kiwi spanned three years, and in mid-November finally reached the level where a kiwi population can get off the ground.

Since November 2018, more than 600 stoats had been pulled from the box traps in the Capital Kiwi network.

Capital Kiwi founder Paul Ward said the next step was to reintroduce kiwi, with the project now in the hands of the Department of Conservation (DOC), and the type of kiwi still yet to be confirmed – although the project had previously pinpointed rowi as the best bet.

Local landowners, iwi, and conservation volunteers were the backbone of the project, resulting in the largest communityowned stoat trap network in Aotearoa, with 4500 traps spanning 23,000 hectares – from Pariwhero/Red Rocks to Porirua.

One hundred and fifty tracking tunnels – each holding an ink pad on a card baited with rabbit meat for 21 days – were deployed across 30 locations.

The goal was to detect stoats in less than 5 per cent of tunnels consistently, a safe level for a kiwi population to thrive as advised by experts from the Kiwi Recovery Group and the Department of Conservation.

The area had consistently scored lower than 5 per cent for the past three years, including several zero per cent readings in the southwest corner, from Mākara to Zealandia to Te Kopahou.

Kiwi could increase their population with a low stoat presence, Ward said.

Tracking tunnels were a rough detection method, and the team had also tested trail cameras to see how they coped with the Pōneke weather and wildlife – for example, horizontal rain and cows – and these were also being used as part of the ongoing monitoring regime.

About 2400 traps have been set by the Capital Kiwi team, mostly on private land, with the remaining 2100 serviced by volunteers and council contractors on public land.

DOC confirmed the process deciding on the kiwi species was ongoing.