Pouakai & Kaitake

At a glance:

• There are more than 1060 possum, stoat and ferrets traps on the Kaitake and Pouakai Ranges. This a dramatic increase from only 60 stoat traps in 2018.
• Now 4965 hectares of the Kaitake and Pouakai Ranges are protected. 
• Volunteer hours from Kaitake Ranges Conservation Trust for 2020 alone was more than 1900. 
• Taranaki Mounga continues to work closely with Towards Predator-Free Taranaki to provide a region-wide predator control programme. This includes removing possums in around the Kaitake Range. Also, the Restore Kaitake initiative – a predator control programme in conjunction with the residents in Oakura, Omata and Kaitake. 
• In April 2021, 10 brown kiwi were released onto the Kaitake Range. The first time in decades. This a direct result of the predator efforts from the community both on and around the range.

Optimising predator control on Kaitake Range

We have been working in collaboration with Towards Predator-Free Taranaki to eradicate possums in and around the Kaitake Range, resulting in the reconfiguration of our trapping network. The team has worked incredibly hard to replace all 300 possum traps with an optimised lean detection network of 179 leghold traps. One hundred and six ferret traps were also installed within the 25 traplines containing more than 500 stoat traps and managed mostly by the Kaitake Ranges Conservation Trust. Returning kiwi to the Kaitake Range is the goal and aspiration not only of our project but also of the Omata, Oakura and Kaitake communities.