Sanctuary showdown: intruder apprehended

Conservation Scientist Raewyn Empson with the rogue weasel captured on 22 February. Photo © Karori Sanctuary.

Members of the public helped conservation staff in a dramatic showdown this afternoon at Wellington’s groundbreaking Karori Sanctuary, when the unidentified mustelid that has had Sanctuary staff on the run since last week was captured.

The first indication that an unwelcome visitor had found its way into the Fort Knox of the conservation world was when an overseas intern working at the Sanctuary spotted a mustelid - either a stoat or a weasel. Ever-prepared for bio-security breaches, Sanctuary staff immediately put 180 traps and ‘tracking tunnels’ in prepared stations sited along 17km of audit lines throughout the world-first urban conservation safe haven.

The animal was spotted by a staff member on a routine search earlier today and cornered in a patch of native grasses right next to the main track.

“This was an unbelievable opportunity” said Sanctuary Conservation Scientist Raewyn Empson.

“We had to seize the moment and make sure the animal didn’t escape. Before we knew it, about 12 members of the public were helping us and we had created a cordon with a length of weed matting and half a dozen nets. Other members of staff bought up trapping boxes and then we played the waiting game. Finally, the animal was scared out of its hiding place and chased straight into a box. We still don’t know whether it’s a large weasel or a small stoat. Our main concern was to get it out of the Sanctuary.”

The animal has been sealed in the box and taken to a vet to be euthanised.

“Although it’s obviously a huge relief that we’ve caught this animal, we still have a long job ahead of us to make sure for certain that there are no more in the Sanctuary. While there is no evidence of others present, we will continue to lay traps and monitor tracking tunnels for a few weeks yet and certainly until the DoC predator-tracking dog is brought in.” said Empson.

ENDS

Radio New Zealand Checkpoint 22 February 2008 Mary Wilson interviews Sanctuary Conservation Scientist Raewyn Empson COPYRIGHT Radio New Zealand

Radio New Zealand: Our Changing World podcasts "Crete, the Mustelid Dog"

Additional information:

An occasional bio-security breach is not unexpected, and something the Sanctuary is well prepared for. The minute we became aware of a possible breach, we put 180 traps and ‘tracking tunnels’ in our prepared stations sited along 17km of audit lines throughout the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary's 8.6km-long predator-proof fence was completed in 1999 and, apart from mice, has only been breached once since then, by a pregnant weasel in 2004. The entire fenceline is checked at least weekly. Following this sighting, a thorough check of the fence was carried out for any damage or potential entry points.

It is an indication of just how effective the fence is that this is only the second mammal incursion in nine years .No predator-proof fence is 100% failsafe – we see it simply as the first line of defence in a series of extremely robust bio-security measures we have in place to prevent mammal predation. There is no evidence that the fence itself has failed on this occasion and there are a number of ways a small stoat or weasel could have got in. For example, harrier hawks have been known to carry small live mammals around, and this could be a risk at the Sanctuary. What ever it is it is unlikely to been here for long because we have been carrying out routine monitoring of the nests of our most vulnerable species and have seen absolutely no evidence of predation.