DOC's Insights on Predators

Predator Free New Zealand is an ambitious, world-leading $28 million project to fight back against the introduced pests which threaten our nation’s natural taonga, our economy and primary sector.

Highlights

New Zealand has had major successes in eradicating mammal predators on offshore islands and subsequent recovery of threatened native species on predator-free islands, fenced sanctuaries, and in places with intense and sustained pest suppression.
Where predator control is not happening, there is a steady decline in native species.
The cost of pests to the economy:

• Direct economic cost of pests to the primary sector: $13.3 billion or 1.96% of GDP.
• Predator control costs New Zealanders at least $74 million a year: 30% conservation, 70% primary sector.

Predator Free plan

The plan is to launch an integrated, large-scale effort to eradicate predators. It will be achieved by supporting new and existing conservation projects, primary sector pest control and community groups on a globally unprecedented level.
The Government is announcing a strategy for a ‘Predator Free New Zealand by 2050’.
A new company, Predator Free New Zealand Ltd (PFNZ), will be formed to work with communities, attract co-investors, and accelerate the scale of pest control.
PFNZ will invest in scientific research to eradicate predators across New Zealand.

2020 goals

• Develop a collaborative predator control strategy.
• Another 175,000 hectares in addition to the current 1 million hectares on conservation land and 7 million hectares led by OSPRI are under some form of control.
• Five projects supported by PFNZ are making progress, and sharing lessons.
• PFNZ and DOC will tackle larger scale operations.
• Collaborative results will show social and economic benefits.
• PFNZ will foster community participation in local predator control activities.

2025 goals

• Increase by 1 million hectares the areas of New Zealand where predators are suppressed.
• Demonstrate predator removal in areas of mainland New Zealand of 20,000 hectares.
• Remove all mammalian predators from New Zealand’s offshore island nature reserves.
• Develop science solutions that remove at least one small mammal predator from the New Zealand mainland.

Long-term benefits

• Remove the major threat to our nation’s native wildlife.
• End a serious drain on our economy.
• Create new opportunities for regional development.
• Reinforce New Zealand’s trade and tourism brand.
• Leave a legacy for future generations.

Introduced predators: the bad guys

The introduced predator pests that cause the most harm to New Zealand’s environment and economy are rats, possums and mustelids.

Rats

Ship rats – introduced across the globe by human activities. Threaten the survival of many native species from invertebrates like wētā and snails to lizards and birds.
Rats eat almost anything which makes them a direct threat and in direct competition with native wildlife.
Rats are common agricultural, industrial and domestic pests and cause a lot of economic damage, as well as posing a risk to human health.

Possums

Introduced from Australia, possums eat many native species including snails and beetles as well as native birds.
Possums decimate forest canopies and compete directly with native birds like kiwi for food and resources.
Possums spread bovine tuberculosis to cattle and deer, resulting in high costs and lost productivity.
Possums also harm horticulture and commercial forestry.

Mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels)

Introduced to manage rabbit plagues, the mustelid family has found an unwanted place in New Zealand’s landscape.
Stoats have caused the extinction of several New Zealand bird species and are the major cause of decline for many other species, including reptiles and invertebrates.
Stoats attack defenceless young kiwi and contribute to the continuing decline of mainland kiwi populations.