Trapper Monthly, May 2026

Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends

Autumn truly has arrived and is almost at its end. Not much snow on top of Mt. Hutt. There was more back in April! For the birds it is probably the most difficult month of the year for food. The kereru feed on kowhai leaves, the bellbirds go for the berries still left on the wineberry trees and the fantails hunt the insects. But the kowhai will soon flower providing a feast of nectar for bellbirds. And a few days ago I heard the first song thrush. They seem to disappear for a while at the end of summer.

What a month it has been weather wise! Day after day blue skies, frosts almost every morning and no wind. Ideal for trapping. Ideal for maintaining the trap lines. No mud. Hardly any slippery slopes. Good for working on the newest trap line: Jubilee Line. I call it Jubilee because it might be the last of the major lines. There might be some branch lines, but they will only be small and easy. Unless, unless I decide that the area adjoining the walkway further up the river needs trapping as well. And it does because it is a lovely pristine piece of forest.

Anyway, the results of this month of trapping have come in. It is not as good reading as I would like. Too many possums. We caught on 20 outings, which is a fair amount of outings for a month, 18 possums, then we caught 23 rats, 2 stoats, 1 hedgehog, 2 mice, 1 weasel and 1 ferret!

The possum number is almost a record for May which is 26 possums. But that was early days and with not as many traps. So, in a way it is good news that with five times as many traps we still get less catches. The rat number is good too because it is half from what it was last month. The mustelids are pleasing too. We have no idea how many might be out there so every one is good news. The ferret was a bit of a surprise. We only ever caught seven of them so far.

We also did some trap maintenance. Jon and Sue helped with that. It is mainly the DOC150 traps which need looking after. We take out the mechanism, the kill trap inside the box, give it a good clean and get rid of any accumulation of leaves and other dirt inside the box. Then everything gets put back again and fresh eggs and peanut butter are put into the trap box. It makes a difference, and we are sure that the traps work properly, and we have an influx of catches for a while.

Then Marcel did a fantastic job checking traps along District and Waterloo lines getting most of the possums in our statistics. Thank you Marcel. Thanks also to Anthony who came out with his hunting dogs to flush out some pigs that wreaked havoc along the new Fairway lines. They are such a nuisance churning up the forest floor and disturbing the traps like overturning them or wrench them off the trees. I think he got three of the pigs!
​
The shop was less busy in May. It is reflected in the visitor’s book also. Not so many entries and comments. Also, not so many postcards to send away. But I did meet some walkers who were interested in the traps and the birds. There was Sharron and Elizabeth from Montreal and there was Meggie from Vietnam. It is always nice to chat to people on the walkway and explain to them what we are doing and what the outcome is. 

Meggie at the fantail shop!

Sharron and Elizabeth with Trapman!

The outcome is of course less predators and more birds! It is an easy calculation, and it is one that is done all over the country and even the world. While the goal of predator free status is unique to New Zealand and cannot be replicated in other places the awareness towards nature and biodiversity gains traction almost everywhere.

To that end, to increase awareness of the importance of diversity of life on this planet and with it the health of the planet and the survival of humanity, the United Nation  runs a day of biodiversity, The International Day of Biodiversity, which was on the 22nd May this year. The theme for this year was ‘Acting locally for global impact’. It is to celebrate the variety of life on Earth and raises awareness about the importance of protecting it. The IDB is tied to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which sets global targets for protecting ecosystems, reducing species loss, and ensuring the benefits of biodiversity are shared equitably.

I quote from the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) website:

“Biodiversity is the foundation of all life on Earth. But around the world, it is being lost at an unprecedented rate. 

The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) 2026, “Acting locally for global impact”, is a call for us all to take action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Protecting biodiversity includes action close to home with positive ripple effects that can reach far beyond”.
 https://www.cbd.int/

The Convention is a document signed by 150 governments in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit. It is dedicated to sustainable development but also recognizes the importance of biological diversity. It is not only about plants, animals and ecostystems but also about food security, medicines, fresh air and water, shelter and a clean and healthy environment in which to live. 

Greenstone Valley

​How lucky we are in New Zealand! And while I say that we are lucky it is not all that rosy here either. Work needs to be done as we face the same problems of loss of biodiversity as well. Like loss of species and loss of habitat, loss of fresh air and water, loss of fauna and flora that can never be retrieved again.
Sadly, in New Zealand about 4000 native species are threatened or at risk of extinction. That is the highest ratio of threatened species per person in the world! Statistics New Zealand highlights this piece of information on their website:

“More than 75 percent of indigenous species in reptile, bird, bat, and freshwater fish species groups are threatened with extinction or are at risk of becoming threatened”.

 https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/extinction-threat-to-indigenous-species/
 
Now, why should I or should we care that 18 species of hornworts and liverworts are threatened with extinction? What are they doing for us? Why is it important? This is what Statistics New Zealand says:
“Many indigenous species in Aotearoa New Zealand are endemic – found nowhere else in the world – and are our national taonga (treasure). Aotearoa New Zealand species make a significant contribution to global biodiversity, which is important for ecosystem processes and resilience, culture, and recreation. Indigenous species have particular importance to Māori, whose mātauranga (knowledge systems), tikanga (cultural practice), and mahinga kai (traditional food resources) are dependent on the wellbeing of indigenous species. Understanding the conservation status of indigenous species provides vital information for conservation and kaitiaki decision-making in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Indigenous marine and freshwater taonga species (species of cultural significance) hold considerable meaning to Māori identity through whakapapa (kinship), which obligates and guides kaitiakitanga (responsibility to nurture the life essence of taonga) priorities. They perform an important role for Māori in understanding the mauri (life essence) of an ecosystem. The presence, or lack, of indigenous species provides insight into biodiversity and the state of mahinga kai (traditional food resources)”.
​
It is a statement heavily flavoured with Māori language and concepts. Some of them are specific to Māori and some do apply to us non Māori as well. I particularly like the idea of kaitiakitanga or the responsibility we have to all life on earth because all is taonga, all is precious and to me, personally, all is of equal value. And that is why it matters. 

Liverworts

I could of course say that extinctions have happened all the time throughout the natural history of earth. The difference in today’s world is that many of the extinctions occurring now are due to our carelessness and our ignorance and our disregard for forms of life we might think are not important. But a healthy  biodiverse environment is important for the very survival of humanity.

There are also specific examples of the importance of plants for say medicinal purposes. Many of these plants might not even have been discovered yet! Anyway, I give you two species growing in the Rakaia Gorge.
​
The Māori have over almost a thousand years accumulated a lot of knowledge about the healing properties of plants and also of where they grow and how they position themselves within the larger ecosystem of the forest, how they even heal the forest itself by providing links to other plants and species that make use of them or need them to develop and grow. Essentially it is the knowledge that all flora and fauna live together in a system of mutual growth, development and survival.

One of these specific plants is Tutu. It is a kind of symbolic plant, a symbol for the workings of nature. On the one hand it is highly poisonous and on the other it has healing properties such as reducing inflammation and mending broken bones by stimulating the blood flow around the injury. It is called the ‘bone-knitter’ for obvious reasons.
​
It is also highly toxic as said above so much so that sometimes when the passion vine hopper feeds on the Tutu plant and then secretes honey dew which the bees collect, then the honey they produce contains tutin, the poisonous compound in Tutu, and is dangerous to humans. There are quite a few plants along the walkway!

​The other plant is Koromiko. It has been used by the Māori for medicinal purposes for a long time. They treated dysentery, ulcers, kidney and bladder diseases. The efficacy of the plant is beyond doubt. In World War II Koromiko leaves were sent overseas to treat troops for dysentery when the Western type of medicine ran out. Traditionally only the unopened leaf bud and the tender top leaves were gathered to ensure the survival of the shrub. Koromiko is found all over the forest in the Rakaia Gorge but the easiest spot to see them is around the coalmine where the track crosses a stream. Silvereyes can often be seen feeding among the flowers.

Koromiko

​Another good news story is from down south, Rakiura Island, or Stewart Island where one of the most threatened birds of New Zealand lives: the Southern Dotterel or Pukunui. There are 160 birds estimated to be alive in 2026. That is up from 105 last year which is an increase of 52 percent! The main reason for such a large increase was an intensive predator control programme involving an aerial drop of poison 1080, always a bit of a controversial tool. But maybe in this case the means justify the result. 

Pukunui

Interestingly the Southern Dotterel feed for most of the year on the beaches and estuaries of the Southland coast but then to breed they fly up to the highest mountain tops of Stewart Island and stay up there until the chicks can fly back down to the coast and the beaches. On top of these mountains, they are exposed to the predation by feral cats. Have a look at the video below. It shows better than any words why we do what we do and why we have to do it.

https://nznaturefund.org/projects/southern-dotterel-pukunui/

A last quote before I go, by Robert McGowan: “We need to see people as being ‘a part’ of the environment, not ‘apart’ from it. As the land colonises us, we become a different people because of our encounters with our environment. The more this happens, the safer the environment will be, because we will realise that we can only be well if the land we live on is well”. All lovely words no doubt. The problem is that we need to have the will to be part of the environment, we have to want to be part of it, we have to put in the effort and the energy to be part of it. We cannot just stand there and think it is going to happen. It surely is not going to happen on Facebook and Instagram!

So, thank you again, dear trappers, and all friends of the Fantail Trust, for caring and for your interest and help.
​
Fantailistic greetings!
Robbie and Christine