Searches find no trace of pests' release

By RAYLENE KEENAN

Months of searching and monitoring by teams of Conservation Department staff have found no sign that possums have been released on island sanctuaries.

But, the department says, the work must continue.

The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society received anonymous letters in January from a group calling itself the Biodiversity Action Group, which claimed possums had been set free on Kapiti Island off the Wellington coast.

The group, which is believed to be pro-hunting, threatened to release more pests.

It also said it had done other damage.

"Our group has been active over recent years in the relocation of game species throughout New Zealand," the letter said.

"As you are probably aware, we are working on tahr [sic], wallaby and fallow.

"Specifically, our group will undertake ... the introduction of pests into pest-free sanctuaries."

DoC took the threats seriously, labelling them "eco-terrorism".

Kapiti Island was declared free of possums in 1986 and cleared of rats in 1996.

DoC Kapiti area manager Ian Cooksley said initial searches failed to find any trace of possums, but staff have continued checks.

"We set up permanent bait stations, so we had them plus wax tabs - which are attractive to possums, who leave their bite marks on them," he said.

The plastic bait boxes house a lethal poison, often embedded in chocolate.

Disturbed bait stations indicate the presence of possums, as they scratch tree trunks to get at the chocolate.

"We haven't had any findings of possums on Kapiti Island from the tabs, the base stations or the initial dog search. So we have basically stopped ground searches."

But staff must maintain and check the bait stations fortnightly.

"We also do a rodent check on a third of the island each year and we will also introduce checking for possums as well as part of that," Mr Cooksley said.

"So within three years we will have covered the whole island again, quite intensively."

While it was promising that no trace of the pests had been found, time-consuming and costly monitoring work would have to continue.

"To be realistic, with 11 possums on a 2000ha island, we could have missed them. They [the eco-terrorists] may have done it and we just haven't found the possums.

"But there is only so much searching we can do," he said.

"The saving grace with possums, as opposed to other pests, is that they are relatively slow-breeding, so in three or four years you are still only talking about 50 or so animals."

Staff now had to be more aware of deliberate threats to the sanctuary.

"Getting pests off the island is only half the story. The other half is keeping them off," Mr Cooksley said.

"Normally your contingency action is geared up for accidental liberation.

"We've not really had to worry in the past about deliberate liberations.

"Now we've got a slightly different scenario where we've got to take that into account."

Mr Cooksley said the searches and subsequent monitoring had been expensive in terms of hours worked by staff.

The filling of a staff vacancy had to be deferred until more money was available.

While DoC has not received any extra money to fight the deliberate release of pests in nature sanctuaries, the Government plans to toughen up on those responsible for such actions.

A spokesman for Conservation Minister Chris Carter said the Government wanted to deter anyone from threatening protected wildlife.

The minister had been informed that no new pests had been found on any of the island sanctuaries.

"Steps have been taken. The legislation will come in before the end of the year," the spokesman said.

"The issue was really with people releasing pests, such as possums, stoats, rodents, and also pigs and deer, in conservation sanctuaries."

Releasing game animals into reserves was becoming more prevalent as a means of providing hunting opportunities.

Pigs were recently found in the Kepler Mountains of Fiordland, an area they could not have entered without human help.

Mr Carter said at the time that pigs were enormously destructive to native species, particularly ground-dwelling birds, and the presence of them in the Kepler area put Fiordland's takahe population at risk.

His spokesman said there were no plans to provide more cash for DoC to monitor threats, but the new law would help the department work with other agencies to crack down on the activity.

The Conservation Law Reform Bill will empower DoC, Fisheries, Customs, Police and Defence personnel to monitor conservation areas.

The bill will also lift penalties under the Reserves Act, the Conservation Act and the National Parks Act.

Anyone caught releasing a known pest in a nature reserve could face a year in prison or a $100,000 fine.

Previous penalties were a maximum of a month in jail or a $500 fine.

Mr Cooksley said conservation officials had not heard any more from those responsible for the threats, but police investigations were continuing.

Getting tough

Anyone caught releasing a pest in a nature reserve faces a year in prison or a $100,000 fine.

Previous penalties were a maximum of a month in jail or a $500 fine.

- NZPA