NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

In the forest, stoats are scaredy cats

Jamie Morton
By Jamie Morton
Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
25 May, 2015 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Predators: Cats and ferrets rule
What happens when you lock one of New Zealand’s most hated predators up with two other notorious killers? You get one scared stoat. Researchers can now show just how afraid the stoat — the killer of thousands of young kiwi each year ...
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
0:00
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
    • captions off, selected

      This is a modal window.

      Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

      Text
      Text Background
      Caption Area Background
      Font Size
      Text Edge Style
      Font Family

      End of dialog window.

      This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

      Herald NOW: Daily Weather Update: June 11 2025

      UP NEXT:

      Autoplay in
      4
      Disable Autoplay
      Cancel Video
      What happens when you lock one of New Zealand’s most hated predators up with two other notorious killers? You get one scared stoat. Researchers can now show just how afraid the stoat — the killer of thousands of young kiwi each year — is of its larger counterparts in the wilderness, the cat and the ferret. Source: University of Auckland and Landcare Research
      NOW PLAYING • Predators: Cats and ferrets rule
      What happens when you lock one of New Zealand’s most hated predators up with two other notorious killers? You get one scared stoat. Researchers can now show just how afraid the stoat — the killer of thousands of young kiwi each year ...
      Predators ranked in ‘fear’ experiment which could help save native birds.

      What happens when you lock one of New Zealand's most hated predators up with two other notorious killers?

      You get one scared stoat.

      Researchers can now show just how afraid the stoat - the killer of thousands of young kiwi each year - is of its larger counterparts in the wilderness, the cat and the ferret.

      An experiment by the University of Auckland and Landcare Research used hidden cameras to simulate a forest environment and found that in a hierarchy of fear, cats and ferrets ruled and the meek stoat rated a lowly third.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      What was a fascinating insight into animal behaviour could also prove important in understanding how the predators might be best dealt with in pest control efforts to save our cherished native birds, said the author of the just-published study.

      Patrick Garvey, a doctoral candidate at the university's School of Biological Sciences, filmed 16 captive wild stoats over successive nights and recorded how they responded when a ferret or cat was present.

      On the first night, the furry subjects were given the large pen to themselves to get used to the surrounds, before either cats or ferrets were introduced to the arena in cages.

      The caged feral cat or ferret was placed on one side of the area and an empty cage was set up on the other, with food placed near the caged animal and the empty cage.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Near the caged cat or ferret, stoats showed increased vigilance while feeding, including standing on hind legs, and most left the "risky" area very quickly.

      Only when all the food in the safe area had been consumed did they dare venture into the risky area, keeping a wary eye on the caged predator.

      As well, the cat watched the stoat continuously within the arena and at one point tried to attack from within its cage.

      Mr Garvey said that although there had been similar studies overseas on such predators as wolves, finding that top predators controlled the distribution and numbers of those below it, the effect hadn't been documented in pests here. "When we are getting rid of predators from our forests, we have to think carefully about the consequences of targeting cats or ferrets because that might allow stoats to thrive, which would be very bad news for our native birds and young kiwi in particular."

      Discover more

      World

      Bamboo? No, pandas need meat

      20 May 05:00 PM
      New Zealand

      Hobby beekeeper lives the sweet life

      20 May 06:47 PM
      World

      Photos: 10 new life forms

      22 May 09:50 PM
      World

      Asset or albatross - Bill's a mixed blessing for Hillary

      22 May 04:00 PM

      The best way to manage the three predators, he said, was to target all of them simultaneously.

      Save

        Share this article

      Latest from New Zealand

      Crime

      'Darkness on her life': Meter reader traumatised by kidnapping ordeal

      12 Jun 05:53 AM
      New Zealand

      Aucklanders brace for stormy wake-up as thunder, lightning lash NI's west

      12 Jun 05:26 AM
      New Zealand

      Frank Film: Stories from the South, Episode 6: A Museum in a House

      It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

      sponsored
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Recommended for you
      Aucklanders brace for stormy wake-up as thunder, lightning lash NI's west
      New Zealand

      Aucklanders brace for stormy wake-up as thunder, lightning lash NI's west

      12 Jun 05:26 AM
      Frank: Stories from the South – A Museum in a House
      Lifestyle

      Frank: Stories from the South – A Museum in a House

      12 Jun 05:00 AM
      Smoke or fog? Former chairman fumes at council's pollution doubt
      Hawkes Bay Today

      Smoke or fog? Former chairman fumes at council's pollution doubt

      12 Jun 04:42 AM
      Horticulture export revenue forecast to hit $8.5b by 2025
      The Country

      Horticulture export revenue forecast to hit $8.5b by 2025

      12 Jun 04:35 AM
      Fire at Wellington apartment blocks roads, prompts evacuations
      New Zealand

      Fire at Wellington apartment blocks roads, prompts evacuations

      12 Jun 04:20 AM

      Latest from New Zealand

      'Darkness on her life': Meter reader traumatised by kidnapping ordeal

      'Darkness on her life': Meter reader traumatised by kidnapping ordeal

      12 Jun 05:53 AM

      A court heard the victim was trapped in her car by an aggressive property owner.

      Aucklanders brace for stormy wake-up as thunder, lightning lash NI's west

      Aucklanders brace for stormy wake-up as thunder, lightning lash NI's west

      12 Jun 05:26 AM
      Frank Film: Stories from the South, Episode 6: A Museum in a House

      Frank Film: Stories from the South, Episode 6: A Museum in a House

      Smoke or fog? Former chairman fumes at council's pollution doubt

      Smoke or fog? Former chairman fumes at council's pollution doubt

      12 Jun 04:42 AM
      The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE
      sponsored

      The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

      NZ Herald
      • About NZ Herald
      • Meet the journalists
      • Newsletters
      • Classifieds
      • Help & support
      • Contact us
      • House rules
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of use
      • Competition terms & conditions
      • Our use of AI
      Subscriber Services
      • NZ Herald e-editions
      • Daily puzzles & quizzes
      • Manage your digital subscription
      • Manage your print subscription
      • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
      • Subscribe to Herald Premium
      • Gift a subscription
      • Subscriber FAQs
      • Subscription terms & conditions
      • Promotions and subscriber benefits
      NZME Network
      • The New Zealand Herald
      • The Northland Age
      • The Northern Advocate
      • Waikato Herald
      • Bay of Plenty Times
      • Rotorua Daily Post
      • Hawke's Bay Today
      • Whanganui Chronicle
      • Viva
      • NZ Listener
      • Newstalk ZB
      • BusinessDesk
      • OneRoof
      • Driven Car Guide
      • iHeart Radio
      • Restaurant Hub
      NZME
      • About NZME
      • NZME careers
      • Advertise with NZME
      • Digital self-service advertising
      • Book your classified ad
      • Photo sales
      • NZME Events
      • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
      TOP
      search by queryly Advanced Search