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Report
by
Greater
Wellington
 The
Pukaha Mount Bruce Buffer is an area of land which forms
a complete protection zone around the forest. The south
eastern portion of the Pukaha Mount Bruce Buffer falls
in the Greater Wellington region and the remainder is
in the Horizons Regional Council region. The original
Buffer management area was 1,812 hectares, but was later
increased by 411 hectares to form a management area of
2,223 hectares.
Trapping
started
on
the
original
management
area
on
2
September
2002
and
on
the
Buffer
extension
on
9
May
2003.
Overall
there
is
a
total
of
18
landowners
included
in
this
area
who
have
control
work
carried
out
on
their
properties.
One
property,
which
has
the
most
cover
over
it,
is
worked
by
the
landowner
who
operates
50
‘sites’.
The
remaining
properties
have
a
varying
number
of
sites
from
one
to
thirty-two
placed
on
them,
depending
on
the
size
of
the
property
and
the
amount
of
habitat.
The
land
formation
is
rolling
hill
country
which
gradually
gets
steeper
closer
to
the
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
forest.
The
vegetation
varies
from
remnant
native
bush
to
open
pasture
with
many
types
of
exotic
plants
throughout.
The
methods
of
control
are
trapping
using
Fenn
No.
4,
Timms
traps
and
Sentry
bait
stations
filled
with
brodifacoum
pellets.
The
aim
of
this
is
to
reduce
the
reinfestation
of
predators
into
the
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
to
allow
the
released
endangered
bird
species
of
kokako
and
kiwi
to
live
and
breed
with
a
much
reduced
threat
of
predators.
All
other
fauna
and
flora
will
benefit
greatly
from
this
project.
-
To
reduce
and
maintain
all
predator
numbers
to
very
low
levels
and
to
restrict
or
stop
completely,
if
possible,
any
reinfestation
into
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
(Pukaha).
The
predators
include
possum,
cat,
ferret,
stoat,
weasel,
hedgehog,
ship
rat
and
Norway
rat.
-
To
encourage
as
many
landowners
as
possible
to
carry
out
this
work
themselves
or
some
parts
of
it.
The
original
management
area
was
1,812
hectares,
but
due
to
the
Buffer
being
narrow
between
West
Road
and
the
forest
boundary,
another
411
hectares
was
added
in
May
2003
to
strengthen
and
enhance
the
protection
that
this
work
is
providing
to
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
The
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
Buffer
falls
into
two
Bovine
Tb
operations.
The
south
western
side
is
in
the
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
Bovine
Tb
programme,
and
the
eastern
side
is
in
the
Whangaehu
Bovine
Tb
programme.
The
largest
piece
of
remnant
native
bush
is
located
on
the
south
western
corner
of
the
forest.
This
is
between
the
forest
and
the
Ruamahanga
River.
There
are
other
small
areas
of
fragmented
native
remnants
along
with
areas
of
exotic
plants.
The
pastoral
ground
is
used
primarily
for
sheep
and
beef
production,
with
some
properties
having
planted
pines
for
soil
conservation
and
timber
production.
Possum
work
has
been
carried
out
in
the
past
for
Bovine
Tb
so
possum
numbers
were
initially
low.
Private
hunters
using
cyanide
paste
and
traps
for
skin
recovery
have
controlled
possum
numbers
in
the
past.
Then
the
Bovine
Tb
jobs
started.
Some
of
the
data
kept
from
these
is
vague
but
the
control
methods
were
phosphorus
paste
laid
on
spits,
1080
paste
prefed
laid
on
spits,
straight
toxic
1080
paste
laid
on
spits,
hand
broadcast
1080
pellets
at
0.08%
and
0.15%,
1080
pellets
fed
through
Kilmore
bait
stations,
brodifacoum
pellets
fed
through
Kilmore
bait
stations,
1080
apple
fed
through
maxi
bait
stations,
1080
carrot
fed
through
Sentry
bait
stations
and
trapping
using
leghold
and
Timms
traps.
Control
Methods
The
following
methods
of
predator
control
have
been
used
on
the
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
Buffer
which
is
-
Timms
trap
baited
with
meat
-
Fenn
No.
4
trap
under
a
Philproof
tunnel
-
Either
a
Sentry
or
Kilmore
bait
station
filled
with
brodifacoum
pellets
were
placed
at
each
site
when
circumstances
allowed.
When
close
to
dwellings
with
domestic
cats
the
Timms
traps
were
kept
away
to
avoid
catching
pets.
The
Fenn
traps
were
baited
with
both
eggs
and
meat.
Where
these
traps
and
bait
stations
were
placed,
this
is
referred
to
as
a
‘site’.
In
the
original
1,812
hectares,
242
sites
were
placed
throughout,
targeting
likely
sites
and
predator
habitat.
In
the
411
hectare
extension,
44
sites
were
put
into
position.
This
made
a
total
of
266
sites
in
the
total
area
of
2,223
hectares.
After
the
heavy
rainfall
in
February
of
2004,
and
due
to
extensive
slipping
on
one
property,
ten
sites
were
removed
from
the
extension
area.
This
now
leaves
a
total
of
256
sites
in
total
throughout
the
whole
operation.
Five
landowners
are
working
multicatch
magpie
traps
in
order
to
reduce
magpie
numbers.
All
resident
landowners
in
the
Buffer
are
still
being
offered
rat
bait
stations
and
bait
if
they
are
prepared
to
work
these
around
their
houses
and
outbuildings
etc.
Thirteen
people
are
currently
working
20
Protecta
19RBS
06
rat
bait
stations
and
bromadiolone
blocks
are
supplied
on
request
to
these
landowners.
To
date,
all
traps
and
bait
stations
are
being
serviced
as
time
and
resources
allow,
and
with
permission
first
being
obtained
from
the
property
owners.
As
a
feel
for
predator
behaviour
and
numbers
has
being
built
up
over
time,
these
monthly
checks
might
be
put
out
to
bi-monthly
checks.
No
monitoring
has
been
carried
out
on
this
job
for
any
of
the
target
species
but
an
accurate
measure
of
bait
has
been
kept
for
each
site
and
an
accurate
record
of
all
kills
has
been
made.
For
the
period
1
July
2003
to
30
June
2004
a
total
of
34
cats,
17
ferrets,
4
stoats,
1
weasel,
167
rats
and
308
hedgehogs
were
accounted
for.
A
further
222.4kg
of
brodifacoum
was
taken
and
384
bromadiolone
blocks
were
used.
This
makes
an
overall
total
of
74
cats,
52
ferrets,
14
stoats,
7
weasels,
348
rats
and
800
hedgehogs
removed
from
this
area
since
the
2
September
2002.
A
total
of
806.7kg
of
brodifacoum
and
706
bromadiolone
blocks
have
also
been
used.
Reinvasion
Reinfestation
of
the
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
Buffer
is
not
considered
a
problem,
as
the
most
important
function
of
the
Buffer
is
to
reduce
or
stop
the
reinvasion
of
the
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
Reserve.
It
is
imperative
for
the
success
of
the
Pukaha
project
that
the
Buffer
is
maintained.
Ferret
Survey
During
the
months
of
April
and
May
2004
the
Greater
Wellington
Vector
Management
Service
conducted
a
ferret
survey
throughout
this
area
and
a
larger
area.
One
ferret
and
one
stoat
were
caught
in
the
Greater
Wellington
portion
of
the
Pukaha
Mount
Bruce
Buffer.
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