Predator Monitoring on Mt Tauhara

Our coordinators have been busy doing predator monitoring on Mt Tauhara for Predator Free Taupo. We learn so much to share with our students when we do on the ground conservation work. There were many signs of hedgehogs and even two spotted out and about on a sunny day. People don't always realise that they eat birds' eggs and chicks, lizards, and native insects. Sadly, we also spotted lots of trees heavily browsed by possums, possum poo and fur everywhere, and possum chew marks on all of the chew cards. You can read more about the impact of introduced browsers and see photos of possum browse on the maunga here. Collecting this data from cameras, chew cards and tracking tunnels every 6 months gives us a good idea of what is happening during the night on the maunga, and this baseline data will hopefully help when future predator control work is carried out.