Some conservationists are concerned about the potential impact of ferrets entering Wellington amid a significant rise in the number of pests being caught on Transmission Gully.
Documents released under the Official Information Act show that between January 2024 to 14 April this year, 701 pests were trapped or killed on the road.
That’s up from RNZ’s previous reports of 226 pests trapped between November 2022 and January 2024.
The animals killed in the latest data set included stoats, weasels, deer, rabbits, rats, pigs and possums.
Predator Free Wellington has been working for years to get rid of all pests in the capital.
Project director Julian Wilcocks told RNZ there had been quite a lot more trapping done along Transmission Gully.
But Wilcocks said it had also been a “bumper season” recently for mustelids which included animals such as stoats, ferrets and weasels.
“That is a real massive concern because we don’t have ferrets in Wellington City and so obviously, we want to really keep those from getting into the city.”
He said if ferrets got into the city it would be “dire straits” for their work.
“Ferrets — they have a very high metabolism, so they need to eat a lot of protein which is often our native species.”
They also had huge roaming distances and were particularly damaging to kiwi, Wilcocks said.
“It has taken us a number of years’ effective methodologies for eliminating rats, stoats and weasels and so we wouldn’t want to be adding ferrets to the mix.”
The furthest south a ferret has been found on the motorway was at Haywards in 2023.
NZTA Waka Kotahi regional manager Mark Owen told RNZ $165,000 had been allocated for pest management on Transmission Gully for this financial year.
Owen said the investment aligned with Greater Wellington Regional Council’s pest management plan.
“The plan dictates that NZTA/Waka Kotahi is responsible for controlling pests on road reserves that it occupies.
“NZTA/Waka Kotahi also manages pest plants in accordance with this plan.”
He said that it followed best practice and focused on feral pigs, mustelids and deer.
Predator Free Waikanae member Kevin Sheppard said his organisation had been trapping along the Kāpiti Expressway which linked up to Transmission Gully.
Sheppard told RNZ the pests were quite lazy and would take the easiest route north and south.
He said since they started trapping on the expressway 220 animals had been caught by the group.
Sheppard said that while new roads such as Transmission Gully and the Kāpiti Expressway have been “an amazing addition” to the region, work needed to be done to continue trapping along the roads.
“It obviously does simply create a pathway for animals such as stoats and ferrets to move along quickly.”
He said there were likely to be gaps in the trapping network at least along Kāpiti Expressway.
“We’re trapping between Waikanae heading up to Peka Peka on one side, so there’s nothing happening on the other side.”
rnz.co.nz
