DOC trialling new version of self-set trap

An advanced version of a self-setting stoat trap is being trialled to control rats during a plague event as part of the Department of Conservation’s predator control programme.

The A24 self-setting trap has been pioneered by Wellington-based industrial design company, Goodnature, with support from DOC, and uses a gas-powered mechanism to automatically reset itself after activation.

DOC and community groups have been using and trialling the traps throughout New Zealand for the last four years, providing feedback to Goodnature to refine the traps and lures.

An area of 200 ha in Fiordland’s Kepler Mountains has been selected as a project site for the latest version. This project will test 467 traps baited with a chocolate-based lure to discover whether they control rat numbers during a plague and then hold numbers down over time.

The Fiordland Conservation Trust and Kids Restore the Kepler programme is helping to run the project and DOC has contracted Fiordland College student Tim Barrow to check the new traps in December and January.

The project will run for a year and, if successful, will be expanded to use the same number of traps over double the area in the Kepler.

“To grow a species, we need permanent pest suppression,” said DOC’s predator expert, Darren Peters.

"These traps are a key tool for now and the future, they are humane, non toxic and reduce our precious labour costs allowing us to do even larger areas,” Darren said. Self-setting traps slash conventional trap costs by up to 75 percent.

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