Date:  22 November 2017

The operation was part of the DOC's Battle for our Birds programme, which aims to protect our most vulnerable native species.

Reg Kemper, DOC Director Operations Lower North Island, is pleased with how the operation went.

"It's early days, but anecdotal reports indicate some wins already, with dead possums, rats and mice reported by our staff and volunteers working in the treatment area," says Reg.

"A lot of effort goes into planning and delivering an operation like this. It's a credit to all those involved; they just got on with it and did the job safely and effectively. Their work will protect our taonga species across a large area of difficult terrain," explains Reg.

"Aerial 1080 is the most effective large-scale pest control tool we currently have. Monitoring shows it's successful in protecting our vulnerable species."

The operation will reduce rat, possum and stoat numbers in the area, helping to protect Ruahine populations of highly valued species, such as whio/blue duck, kiwi, giant land snails, bats/pekapeka, red mistletoe, Dactylanthus, and Pittosporum turneri.

DOC worked with OSPRI (which manages New Zealand's TBfree programme) to lay cereal baits containing sodium fluoroacetate (known as 1080) over 32,829 ha of the Northern Ruahine Ranges, between 13 and 15 November 2017.

Although the operation itself is complete, the work is not over. During the coming months, teams will be gathering data to assess the impact of the operation:

• rat and mouse numbers will be monitored in early December
• whio populations in two catchments will be surveyed using conservation dogs in late summer
• Powelliphanta snail populations will be monitored in February/March 2018.

Access points into the operational area have warning signs in place. The presence of these signs indicates that pesticide residues may still be present in bait or animals.

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