MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday 26 March, 2013

He Tini Awa Whio Warriors Progressing Well

A group of Manawatu locals passionate about protecting the endangered Whio have been resetting stoat traps this month alongside the Pohangina River thanks to funding from the He Tini Awa Trust.

Whio, also known as Blue Ducks and found on the ten dollar note, are native to New Zealand with only 2000-3000 estimated remaining in the country. During breeding season from August to October eggs, chicks and nesting females are easy prey for stoats.

The group, who has since renamed themselves the He Tini Awa Whio Warriors in gratitude to the Trust that got their project started, successfully applied to the Trust for funding in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

“Funding from He Tini Awa allowed us to start trapping in the Pohangina Valley,” says group organiser and motivator Janet Wilson.

“There is a significant population of Whio in the Pohangina river as a large waterfall near the boundary of the forest park has prevented trout from establishing in the catchment, reducing the competition Whio face for food. It’s also prime Whio breeding country as the environment is near pristine with no pollution or run off, just the nasty stoats eating 90 per cent of Whio chicks.”

The last round of funding from He Tini Awa provided $2,000 to buy new gas canisters and bait pots for the 70 specially designed stoat traps the group have installed along a seven kilometre length of the river. The bait consists of Vaseline preservative and rabbit mash.

“We use A24 traps made by New Zealand company GoodNature, which are resetting stoat traps allowing us to trap stoats in more remote areas while keeping our volunteers safe,” says Ms Wilson.

“They work by luring stoat to the trap with scented bait and striking the skull of the pest. Each gas canister has around 24 kills so they only have to be re-set twice a year.”

Ms Wilson and three other volunteers flew into the Valley to paint a DoC hut this month and decided it would be a prime opportunity to replace gas canisters in the traps and lay a few new traps on the way.

“Just upstream of the Ngamoko Hut that we will be painting a pair of Whio successfully fledged four chicks this summer,” says Ms Wilson.

“To think that we might have had a hand in helping those chicks survive is an amazing feeling.”

He Tini Awa trustee Barrie Wallace who flew in with the group to take a look at the area says community involvement is crucial to the success of predator control projects.

“These volunteers give up weekends and annual leave to go into the bush because they are so passionate about protecting the Whio. To be able to give them a helping hand with funding is a pleasure and it was fantastic to get a chance to go and see the hard work they are doing.”

“We would like to offer our sincerest thanks to the He Tini Awa Trust,” says Ms Wilson.

“It was their initial support for this project that got it off the ground. We have used that support to leverage funding out of the central North Island Blue Duck Trust and Te Manawa Museum has adopted Whio as its mascot.

“This would not have been possible without the vision of the He Tini Awa Trust giving our dream of protecting the Pohangina Whio the tools we needed to get started,” she says.

If you would like to help with stoat control in the Ruahine Forest Park, contact the Department of Conservation Manawatu Rangitikei Area Office on (06) 350 9700.

ENDS

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