HELP MAKE NEW ZEALAND PREDATOR-FREE

Currently, the main threat to New Zealand's native wildlife are the various species of introduced predators, including rats, possums and stoats.

Wellington aims to be the first predator-free city in New Zealand. By decreasing predators in the Wellington region, we can increase the numbers of our native wildlife in our forests and suburbs and significantly improve our local environment. This is especially important to keep rare native wildlife safe, as they continue to spread beyond Zealandia's sanctuary fence.

Predator Free Wellington is a project run in partnership by Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and NEXT Foundation. For more information see their website here.

 

ZEALANDIA'S ROLE

Our sanctuary is a world-leading predator free mainland environment. We are currently focusing on ensuring our sanctuary remains predator free, but outside the fence we're involved in supporting various predator-free initiatives.

For example, our Education team provides free traps to schools and teaches the next generation of New Zealanders about responsible trapping.

 TRAPPING PESTS

If you're a Wellington resident, you can support our environment with hands-on action. The more efficient way for you to provide practical support to control rat populations is by setting up and maintaining traps on your property. 

For rats, and stoats, the DOC 200 or Goodnature A24 trap is the best option. Victor Rat Traps with tunnels are also useful tools and are a more affordable option. These traps are all ethical, having passed the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee guidelines, and Victor Rat Traps and Tunnels can be bought from Zealandia. 

Check out our video below on how to set and empty the Victor Rat Trap.

The video has Closed Captions available. Close-up footage of a dead pest are included, so be warned if you're a bit squeamish. Click here to view on YouTube.

 

BAITING TIPS

 

Use peanut butter, Nutella, canned fish, fresh meat and/or chocolate to bait your trap. You might have to experiment to find the bait that works best for you. Change bait every two weeks or more regularly for meat.

TRAP LOCATION

 

Place your trap and tunnel along fencelines, in bushed areas or beside compost. Rats might not enter the tunnel if the exit is covered or blocked, so check that you can see through the tunnel where you've placed it.

RECORD YOUR PESTS

 

Keep a record of pests you've caught at trap.nz 

By collating kills, better estimates can be made of how close Wellington is to reaching its predator-free goal.

COMMUNITY GROUPS

If you'd like to get more involved with catching predators, and otherwise helping recover Wellington's environment, join a local community group.  
 

Learn More