Local Focus: Making BoP predator free

As part of the Government’s Predator Free 2050 goal, community volunteer groups such as Predator Free Bay of Plenty are trapping backyard predators in droves.

“We started in 2018 with just Matua and Merivale and it expanded from there to cover the whole of the Western Bay and Tauranga districts,” Predator Free BOP co-ordinator Tracey Valentines said.

“It’s always been a problem, I think people are just starting to recognise now that there’s something they can do to help.”

The goal is to see native birds return and thrive in people’s backyards.

“We’ve got a lot of predators out there,” said Valentine.

Besides rats and mice, the campaign hopes to rid our backyards of possums, ferrets, weasels and stoats.

“We’ve mostly been focusing on rats, which can eat up to 50 birds in their lifetime. They predate on a lot of our birds and their eggs — chicks don’t even get a chance to fledge a lot of the time.”

Besides rats and mice, possums, ferrets, weasels and stoats are also being targeted.

“Every time you have a kill in your backyard, you can put in your address and number of kills you’ve had and that will show up on our map and give us statistics for each area,” said Valentine.

So far, Predator Free BOP has put 4700 traps in people’s backyards and logged 16,700 kills on its website.

Fiona Lavin leads the Matua campaign and hopes to eventually rid the entire peninsula of pests.

“I hold traps for people to pick up, I run events and provide an advice line for anyone who has a rat problem in Mauta,” she said.

“Here in Matua we have the Matua Saltmarsh and then in Merivale, they’re right next to the Waimapu Estuary.

“We have a lot of ground-nesting birds and other birds in the estuary and if we get rid of the pests then it enables the birds to really thrive.”

Lavin said everyone could get involved, not just those who’ve seen a pest on their property.

“In the last five years I’ve been doing this, I’ve caught 30 to 40 rats but I’d never seen a single one before I’d caught them.

“It’s never just one rat — there’s always a nest.”

When it comes to disposing of trapped pests, Tauranga City Council said to bury them in backyards.

Dead animals shouldn’t be put into any kerbside bin because they attract vermin and release methane gases at the landfill.

You can find out more about the campaign on the Predator Free BOP website.