Jamie McAulay talking about Kiwi
Last night’s guest speaker was Jamie McAulay, son of President-elect Bill, who Zoomed in from his home in Te Anau.
Jamie works for DoC as a Biodiversity ranger, a job that he thoroughly enjoys. It involves a lot of fieldwork in remote parts of Fiordland, in rugged bush country. The mission is to ‘save the iconic kiwi’ and the target is a 2% annual growth in the kiwi population.
This is proving difficult because of predation, mainly by the dreaded stoat. In fact, over the last three years, none of the kiwi chicks hatched in Jamie’s area of study have survived.
Jamie’s team uses tiny radio transmitters and trail cameras to keep track of adult and young kiwis, and the stoats, possums, and keas that harass them.
Chicks hatch around August after 80 days incubation, but can’t defend themselves until they are 20 weeks old.
The solution is predator control. Trapping is not viable in such steep country, but 1080 poison drops are effective when the weather allows. These are done by helicopters using GPS for targeting.
Some Choice News!
Many New Zealand gardens aren’t seeing as many monarch butterflies fluttering around their swan plants and flower beds these days — the hungry Asian paper wasp has been taking its toll.
Thanks to people like Alan Baldick, who’s made it his mission to protect the monarch, his neighbours still get to enjoy these beautiful butterflies in their own backyards.
Thinking about planting something to invite more butterflies, bees, and birds into your garden?
Thanks for your mahi, Alan! We hope this brings a smile!
Neighbourhood Challenge: Who Can Crack This One? ⛓️💥❔
What has a head but no brain?
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Poll: Would you participate in local initiatives aimed at stopping plastic from reaching our oceans?
Volunteers will be scouring the foreshore, riverbanks, and islands for rubbish on Saturday the 13th as part of the Clean Up the Hutt event.
This initiative helps stop plastic from reaching our oceans and makes our waterways cleaner and safer for everyone.
We want to know: Should this be rolled out across all coastal cities in Aotearoa? And more importantly… would you get involved? 💚
Want the details? The Post has you covered.
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69.4% Yes!
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17.7% Maybe ...
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12.9% No.
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