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Pest Inquiry Report

Stoats are a big problem in the Bay Of Plenty, they eat the native birds. Kiwis have a 5% chance of surviving as a chick, and stoats are responsible for 50% of this. Stoats can be hard to control because of how fast they reproduce. To mitigate the deleterious effects of stoats in the Bay Of Plenty we need to provide more funding to trapping these stoats.

Stoats arrived in NZ in 1879 to control the rabbits that were destroying the sheep’s pasture. The stoats were introduced into New Zealand from Britain. Back in the Ice Age, stoats thrived because of their small size. The stoat's small body allowed it to easily maneuver under the thick snow, as well as hunt prey in their burrows. Stoats came on massive boats that most likely ran on steam. Stoats quickly became a big problem.

Stoats have a big impact on the Bay Of Plenty's native birds, including our sacred Kiwi. Stoats mainly target our native bird eggs and young chicks, this is a big problem because if we dont step up our game, our Native Species may go extinct. Stoats like to prey on everything, they hunt Day and Night. On our school trip to learn about our pest species, I asked Emma (An expert on pests, and traps) what stoats target the most. She said that Stoats mostly target Kiwi Eggs.

In the wild, Stoats are incredibly efficient at killing and won’t give up until they get what they want, which is mostly food. Stoats are very interesting animals, due to their small stature combined with their lust for blood they are an incredibly good killing machine that has been found to be too good for New Zealand, often killing most native animals and sometimes even killing “for fun”. Similar to how humans hunt game for enjoyment and bonding purposes, stoats will go out of their way to kill birds or destroy nests for no gain other than just causing destruction and enjoyment, often killing or severely harming baby birds and leaving them to rot.

DOC has invented many different traps to use against stoats including the DOC 200 and the DOC 250, these are both used today to trap this pest species. The DOC 200 is the most commonly used trap in the Bay Of Plenty, this trap consists of a contraption that acts like a big mouse trap. When the stoat stands on the trap, the weight will clamp down and kill the stoat. These traps need to be reset every time it gets sprung. The DOC 200 is enclosed in a wooden box with a small entrance so that other animals don't get in, including our native birds

The DOC 250 is the exact same as the DOC 200 just bigger, the DOC 250 can be used for trapping bigger pests such as possums. Another trap used on stoats is the A24 trap, this trap is an electronic trap that can be set off 24 times before you have to reset it. The trap has a scented bait at the top of the tunnel, when the victim tries to grab it, it will kill them by crushing their head. These traps can be set far out into the bush, because they don't have to check them as much

In Conclusion stoats are a big problem