Affirmative Action - Sceptical of the claims from both sides of the argument, Peter Davey, Rotorua hunting guide, decided the truth about 1080 was out there somewhere. So he picked up a tape recorder and went looking. Oh, and he saved some threatened birds as well.
Local Concern - Mike Morrison’s not the sort to sit around and wait for something to happen. So when possums started killing a beautiful forest remnant next door, he and his neighbours fought back. But as they found out, possums are no pushover.
Goodwill Hunting - For ten years, John Gaukrodger sat in front of angry public meetings about 1080. He figured there had to be a better way. It was about stopping to let elderly ladies cross the street.
Hard Choices - Keith Wood steps out as if it’s a midsummer afternoon, coat still draped over his big forearm. This strapping forester is more than just at home in Karioi; it’s a sacred place of his people, Ngati Rangi.
Reprise: A New Dawn for Kokako - In 1991, the future of kokako in Mapara Forest rested on just four breeding pairs. Eight years later, after a campaign of intensive pest control including aerial 1080, bait stations, trapping and shooting, there were 49 pairs. In fact, Mapara now has kokako to spare, a donor for re-introduction projects around the North Island.
Andy's Efforts - Andy Cox is the technical support manager for the Southland Conservancy, Department of Conservation, and he has spent 35 years in conservation management including kakapo work on Codfish Island and many years in Fiordland. During that time he has seen many changes in the condition of New Zealand’s native bush and its inhabitants. Some of the changes are disturbing.
Warawara The Spirit Forest - Warawara Forest wraps like a cloak about the tiny Te Rarawa community of Pawarenga, giving shelter, food and medicine. Dame Whina Cooper once called the forest “Te wairua o Te Iwi o Te Rarawa – The living spiritual being of Te Rarawa people.”
Hard Campaigner - “Something that’s become evident over the last few years is the benefit to bird populations,” Bill Fleury says. “We’re not just taking out possums; we’re taking out rats and stoats and that can be planned for.”
Change of Heart - A decade ago, Errol Croad had nothing good to say about 1080. Now this award-winning Otaki farmer and onetime hunter says it’s a saviour; both for the environment and for farming.
Silent Movies - We know the victims’ names from dusty old files: bush wren, laughing owl, piopio, South Island kokako. And as we sift through new evidence, one suspect keeps coming up: Mustela erminea. Elaine Murphy explains.
The Slim Grim Reaper - If you designed a killing machine from scratch, it would probably still end up looking just like a stoat.
On the Snail Trail - New Zealand’s endangered birds often receive worldwide acclaim and attention. But on the forest floor, beyond the limelight, our native land snails go about their lives as they have for millennia, all but unnoticed.
New Tricks - The more we learn about possums, the more reason there is to worry. They were first caught eating birds’ eggs. Then chicks. And now native snails are disappearing.
The Forest Citadel - Possums arrived on the West Coast in 1895, and within a decade, the scarlet glow of rata bloom began to fade. Today, at Otira, the Department of Conservation has dug in to save one of the Coast’s last healthy tracts of this unique and beautiful forest.
The Missing Link - The Department of Conservation is trying to stem an invasion into the last few possumless places.
Steward Island Sentinel - For conservation purposes, 1080 is generally used as a tool to reduce possum numbers over vast tracts of inaccessible forest. Here we see a more direct use of the toxin as a cat control which has saved the South Island Dotterel.
back to top