With Miramar now designated predator free, phase two of the project is well underway. There is lots of information on the Predator Free Wellington website and you can see the boundaries of this next phase on https://www.pfw.org.nz/sign-up-phase-2/. This next phase is benefiting from all the lessons learned during phase one, resulting in some new approaches.
It includes deploying a very hard-working detection dog, used to scope out predator location and activity and informing the number of the traps required. This is saving time and complements other monitoring activities such as chew cards, cameras and volunteer reporting as well as an increasing understanding of predator behaviour. James describes this multi-layered approach as his Swiss cheese approach. No approach is perfect but if there are many layers, hopefully this can ensure no holes line up to allow animals to avoid detection.
A milestone for PFW is to move into Wellington Zoo – hoping to become the world’s first predator free zoo. Getting started on this exciting step is just a few weeks away,
but it does require special attention to detail in the planning to keep everyone safe. Deploying traps in the large cat enclosure isn’t straight forward. James has his eye on two big prizes before the move into phase three begins. Firstly, achieving a predator free CBD and secondly the area surrounding Zealandia. This will increase the size of the footprint of Zealandia about seven-fold. The potential impact on our city’s bio-diversity is very exciting. It has been suggested that in New York wherever you are, you are only metres away from a rat. A rather sobering thought and one that we can be justly proud that through the efforts of PFW and the thousands of volunteers we are moving towards being predator free setting our beautiful city apart.
There have been detractors, people who have said predator-free is unachievable. James’ response to this is: ‘If people stopped telling me we couldn’t do this – I would
have given up years ago’. Yet another incentive indeed. James concluded by presenting the Club with a certificate recognising our efforts in our Predator Free Waterfront initiative.
A milestone for PFW is to move into Wellington Zoo – hoping to become the world’s first predator free zoo. Getting started on this exciting step is just a few weeks away,
but it does require special attention to detail in the planning to keep everyone safe. Deploying traps in the large cat enclosure isn’t straight forward. James has his eye on two big prizes before the move into phase three begins. Firstly, achieving a predator free CBD and secondly the area surrounding Zealandia. This will increase the size of the footprint of Zealandia about seven-fold. The potential impact on our city’s bio-diversity is very exciting. It has been suggested that in New York wherever you are, you are only metres away from a rat. A rather sobering thought and one that we can be justly proud that through the efforts of PFW and the thousands of volunteers we are moving towards being predator free setting our beautiful city apart.
There have been detractors, people who have said predator-free is unachievable. James’ response to this is: ‘If people stopped telling me we couldn’t do this – I would
have given up years ago’. Yet another incentive indeed. James concluded by presenting the Club with a certificate recognising our efforts in our Predator Free Waterfront initiative.