Predator Monitoring

Predator-proof fences are critical for eco-sanctuaries but without monitoring behind the fence a predator incursion may go unnoticed with catastrophic consequences.

We recently read a distressing article in a back issue of Wilderness magazine about a stoat intrusion at the predator fenced Orokonui Ecosanctuary in Otago. The stoat was detected after the sanctuary's population of South Island saddleback mysteriously disappeared.

Unfortunately a mated female stoat is able to delay the onset of her pregnancy until conditions to raise her young are optimal so it only requires one intrusion to result in the establishment of a small population. You can download a copy of the article here.

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