War on stoats good news for blue ducks

Sarah Wills banding whio on the Whirinaki River with the Galatea School Enviro Group.

A successful breeding season in Whirinaki has seen 30 whio ducklings fledged this year.

And the news is likely to get better after the extension of the trapping network later in the year which is expected to produce another good breeding season.

Department of Conservation threatened species ranger Sarah Wills said the successful season could be attributed to almost 1000 new stoat traps being set along the Whirinaki River thanks to funding through the five-year Whio Forever partnership with Genesis Energy.

It was a good breeding season and resulted in the total number of whio being boosted to 56 along 16km of the Whirinaki River.

The whio, or blue duck, population had declined to 13 pairs because of stoat predation. The stoats not only take the whio eggs and ducklings but sometimes kill the female ducks on the nest.

"Since the extra traps have been in place the numbers of whio have grown and you can see whio and their ducklings from the walking track to the Central Whirinaki hut," Ms Wills said.

Another 800 traps would extend the network to protect more whio in the Whirinaki Forest.

"The bonus is people who are tramping or mountain biking between Mangakahika, Rogers and Moerangi huts in the Whirinaki will see whio ducklings with their parents through the early summer and over the next few years seeing more and more whio on those streams."

The Whirinaki Te Pua a Tane Conservation Area is one of four North Island whio security sites set up as part of a national whio recovery and population growth program.