Rowi: on the Road to Recovery

Posted by savethekiwi

Over the past week the rowi team have been completing the quarterly small mammal indexing (SMI) in the kiwi zone.  This involves putting out sets of inked cards into sets of tunnels placed throughout the bush. For the first night the tunnels are baited with peanut butter; aimed to attract rats, and for the consecutive three nights they are baited with rabbit meat; aimed at attracting mustelids (mainly stoats).  After the four nights, rangers collect in the cards and analyse the results by identifying the prints on each of the cards. This data is then entered into a database and the results give us a reasonably accurate idea of the current rat and stoat populations inside and outside of the kiwi zone.

This information can be used to determine the optimum time to perform any pest control in the kiwi zone as well as determining the effectiveness of trapping programmes or poison operations and to track the re-invasion of these pest species into recently controlled areas.

These mammals are the primary reason why rowi are so rare. Rats compete with rowi for food (mainly invertebrates) and kill other native birds or eat their eggs. They also provide food for the biggest threat to rowi - stoats.

Stoats were introduced to New Zealand by European colonialists; with tragic results. They have been known to kill 95% of kiwi chicks and the Department of Conservation fights a constant battle to protect our native species from them across the country. It’s a massive battle and we can’t do it alone. That’s why it’s fantastic that so many New Zealanders get involved in saving our kiwi - thank you!