Department of Conservation Whanganui provides traps and advice on predators

Department of Conservation ranger Lisa Lamberton has a variety of predator traps to lend to Whanganui people. Photo / Bevan Conley

In a city where a possum regularly upstages performers at the Whanganui Musicians Club, there is clearly a need for some predator trapping, Whanganui predator-free ranger Lisa Lamberton says.

Lamberton, who works for the Department of Conservation, said she had heard about the possum at the Musicians Club in Drews Ave, and had been approached for help with another possum at nearby Repertory Theatre in Ridgway St.

While DoC's Whanganui biodiversity team deals with predators on public conservation land, Lamberton also spends up to five hours a week advising people about predator control on private land - mainly city backyards.

She has about 40 traps - mostly in ones or twos - in use in the community at present. She also works with groups and is advising Castlecliff Coast Care as it monitors predator populations before trapping.

Lamberton has given talks on trapping predators at Te Kura o Kokohuia and Hiruharama (Jerusalem) and, in conjunction with Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, ran a two-day workshop for 12 people in Whanganui.

DoC would not reach Predator Free 2050 without help, Lamberton said.

"We are very, very lucky that we have so many conservation volunteers across the country, but we are always welcoming more."

The main predators for city people are possums and rats. Mustelids (ferrets, stoats and weasels) are less common, although there have been some ferrets caught in Brunswick.

All DoC traps are quick-kill types approved by the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), and Lamberton doesn't use poisons.

She said she preferred to call the animals she targeted predators rather than pests, and said killing them was necessary to protect taonga species.

"One of the things that I would like to bring into this kaupapa is tikanga - the way we treat animals and the reasons why we are doing what we are doing - having respect for every living being."

She was encouraged that Whanganui interest in predator trapping was revving up, with Chris Smith starting Predator Free Whanganui.

Smith said his group had been shortlisted for Predator Free NZ funding. It was also working towards charitable status and he wanted to find out how it could operate in public spaces.

He said he had been contacted by about 20 interested people and groups.