1Feb 4, 2020
The announcement of funding for three conservation pest control projects in Northland, while great news masks the fact that the majority of Northland native forests on conservation land have no meaningful and consistent large scale pest control. On private land thankfully, pest control is expanding. The funding announced will expand ground based pest control […]
2Mar 26, 2019
A recent video clip of a stoat sussing out how to get onto the top of a picnic table where a kārearea (New Zealand falcon) was standing at Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, sent shivers up my spine, no fear of the big bird on the stoat’s part. This was followed by a stoat darting around a lacebark […]
3May 24, 2016
In Northland, many great native forests and their wildlife are collapsing. When the sun goes down, thousands of possums relentlessly consume the forest canopy, slowly killing ancient forest giants like tōtara, pūriri, pōhutukawa and northern rātā. Rats come out to consume our native birds, insects and lizards. Dean Baigent-Mercer takes us on a tour of Northland’s forgotten […]
4May 9, 2016
Good news that DOC will be funded an extra $20.7 million this year to battle the predator boom that is expected this Autumn in response to a massive forest seeding. DOC will now be able to control predators over 800,000 ha, just over 10% of public conservation land. Wildlife over 90% of public conservation […]
5Mar 14, 2014
Our ten week cat-cam pilot study to investigate the wild diets of our cats, their foraging habits and general behaviour has given us several interesting insights into the world of our cats. Domestic cats are creatures that live so closely to us, and yet – in NZ at least – studies have been limited. Indeed, […]
6Jan 8, 2014
For the past few years, many city dwellers have been vigorously flying the flag for “Predator-free New Zealand” while, ironically, a scourge of pests have been running wild at their feet. Yes, in urban New Zealand, our pests are having a field day. Throughout New Zealand there is no nationwide council-led effort to build on […]
7Sep 18, 2013
In my previous blogs I told you about my cat catching a waxeye (and the distress it caused me) and then the cat bib I bought her as a response. It’s now time for Cat Tales Part 3, since quite a lot has happened since then. For the record, the cat bib appears to be […]
8Jul 8, 2013
There’s nothing like a shock to spur you into action. My cat Ruzz caught a bird yesterday. When I saw her with it in the front porch, I hoped it was a mouse or a sparrow, but as I bent closer I saw it was a waxeye. When I picked it up, its little broken […]
9Jun 23, 2010
Blogger: Forest & Bird’s Web Manager, Mandy Herrick We touched down on the moon in 1969. We travelled 11kms to the sea-floor in 1960. We peered into living cells and discovered DNA in 1951. Moon-travel, deep-sea exploration, cell-research, we’ve done it all, and yet, we still know very little about the unexplored communities that live […]