Wildland Consultants has extensive experience in the monitoring, management and research of mammalian pest species both on the mainland and on offshore islands. Our experience includes:
- Operational reviews
- Policy review
- Design and implementation of control
- Project planning
- Eradication plans
- Advice on best practice
- Monitoring
- Research
- Fencing and pest free sanctuary establishment
- Data analysis
- Advocacy
- GIS analysis and mapping services
Hedgehog
Mouse and possum printsSelected projects
- Designing and establishing a pilot monitoring programme investigating the sensitivity of tracking tunnels at detecting mustelids in alpine habitats
- Reviewing methods for monitoring stoats
- Identification and rapid assessment of alpine bird and invertebrate populations sensitive to mammalian predation
- Working with the NPCA to develop a website and a cell phone app for identifying mammalian pests from field sign
- Modelling forest bird occupancy before and after the application of aerial 1080 in Fiordland National Park
- Design and implementation of a rodent and possum control operation in Almorah Road Rock Forest, Auckland. This also incorporated pre- and post-control monitoring using tracking tunnels, chew cards and camera traps
- Evaluation of long-term large scale stoat data sets to identify hot spots in rodent and mustelid productivity, areas of reinvasion risk, and whether removal of mustelids causes mesopredator release in rodents
- Monitoring of pest animal abundance before and after control using tracking tunnels, waxtags, and faecal pellet counts
- Strategic planning of large scale pest animal control and ecological restoration for Project Janszoon in Abel Tasman National Park and the Dusky Sound Conservation and Restoration Plan
- An illustrated field guide to pest animal sign
- Planning for ecological restoration involving pest animal eradication or sustained control at Whangarei Heads, Great Barrier Island, Kawau Island, Mauao, Ngatapa (Hawkes Bay; 9,000 ha), West Matukituki, and other sites
- Sub-regional scale strategic planning and priority setting for feral goats in the eastern Bay of Plenty and the south Wellington coast
- Strategic management of feral fallow deer on the south Kaipara Peninsula
- Implementation of predator control (rats, mustelids, and cats) at several sites, e.g. Kawerau to protect wetland bird species, at Northland and Coromandel sites to protect kiwi, and at Ngatapa to protect blue duck and other native bird species
- Field audits of possum-, rat- and predator-control programmes of New Zealand Landcare Trust groups in Northland, and weed and pest animal control contacts in Waitakere City
- Review of Regional Pest Management Strategies
- Coordination of bait trials to help determine optimal baiting strategies for stoats
- Implementation of rabbit and possum control and associated vegetation monitoring at many sites
- Assessment of feral pig impacts on indigenous forest, Tauranga River, Urewera National Park
- Development of ranking systems that underpin national priority setting systems for control of goats and possums