As efforts ramp up to save New Zealand’s native wildlife from invasive species, Johnny Crawford looks back wistfully on the centuries-long relationship between humans and rodents in Aotearoa. I think all of us can agree that New Zealand has a pest control problem. Our native species have long been terrorised by introduced ones from which … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Regulator flame grills fast food company over minimum wage breaches, swampy rental property exposed, and dodgy door to door sales tactics revealed. Burger King has been banned from hiring migrant workers for a year after being found to have breached minimum wage laws. Newshub reports that a salaried … Read more
Since 2016, the Department of Conservation (DOC) has partnered with Kiwibank to develop the conservation dog programme and, by proxy, raise the profile of conservation as a whole. Don Rowe goes to visit these hard-working canines to find out what it takes to be a DOC dog. The egg of a common skink is about the … Read more
Squawk Squad is the social enterprise using modern technology to not only make predator traps more effective but keep its wider community of donors connected with its work. Every year, a massive 25 million native birds are said to be killed by pests, leaving many of our most beloved species – the takahē, kākāpō, and … Read more
The idea that New Zealand’s threatened species can somehow safely ‘co-exist’ with the onslaught of introduced predators is irresponsible and untrue, writes the Department of Conservation’s Nicola Toki. New Zealand is facing a biodiversity crisis. With more than 4000 species in trouble, some scientists have given us the dubious honour of the country with the … Read more
The threats over DOC use of the anti-predator poison reveal a crack opening up between urban perception and rural values. We need to grasp its seismic nature, before somebody gets hurt, writes Dave Hansford In October, somebody let a herd of sika deer into north Taranaki forest. Then they sent the Department of Conservation a … Read more
As New Zealanders rally our collective efforts in the pursuit of the ‘crazy and ambitious’ goal of a Predator Free New Zealand by 2050, we mustn’t lose our hearts, writes Nicola Toki. In 2003, freshly minted with a Zoology degree, I began my first job with the Department of Conservation. It only took a couple … Read more
New Zealanders celebrated the government’s ambitious goal to completely eradicate possums, rats and stoats by 2050 – but according to some scientists, the plan is ill-conceived and unlikely to succeed. Ahead of a major conference on the future of New Zealand biodiversity, Dr Jamie Steer argues that Predator Free 2050 needs an urgent rethink. Last … Read more