“If you want to save a species or habitat, it’s a fight forevermore. You can never turn your back.”
Trapping has taken me to so many different places since 2021, when I first began volunteering on a trapline in my local bush reserve, Waimapihi Reserve.
Over the last few years I have added another two traplines to my trapping portfolio. I partnered up with a friend to do a longer trapline in the Remutaka Forest Park and ventured further afield to help with trapping on the Tin Range on Rakiura/Stewart Island – to help protect the critically endangered Southern Dotterel/Pukunui (https://wtmc.org.nz/trip-report/fighting-for-the-underbird-helping-out-on-the-tin-range-rakiura/). I also spent a week at Burwood Takahē Recovery Centre (https://wtmc.org.nz/uncategorized/the-fight-for-survival-volunteering-with-the-takahe-recovery-programme/).
Trapping has been so rewarding – not only have I been able to give back to places I love so much to help protect flora and fauna, but I have gained so many skills and met some very inspiring people.
Lisa and Geoff are two such inspiring people. They are conservation legends who have been working tirelessly for many years to protect Whio in the Ruahine Forest. The Whio/Blue Duck is endemic to New Zealand and has a conservation status of “threatened-nationally vulnerable”. They are rarer than some species of kiwi. It’s a bird I have always loved because of its distinctive call and the way they paddle up and down fast-flowing rivers (which are their home).
I had been talking to Lisa about getting involved with the Mauri Oho project in the Northern Ruahine Range (see: https://maurioho.nz/). There was a good weather window over Labour weekend, so I headed up to the area to assist with the challenging Apias trapline, which covers the area from No Mans Hut, down river to Mistake Biv and all the way down to Ikawetea Hut.
After staying in Ongaonga (a town in Central Hawke’s Bay) on Friday night, we commenced with a few challenges on Saturday. On the the drive to No Mans Hut we came across tree-fall – a large tree was blocking the entire road – so we spent 5 minutes working as a team to shift it. Then, after dropping Geoff off to do a trapline between Dead Dog Hut and Herricks Hut, the ute’s key snapped in the ignition. Luckily, Andy managed to work it up into a screwdriver head that fit the ignition perfectly and was able to start the vehicle up, so we managed to avoid getting stranded.
We started working the Apias trapline from No Mans Hut, going along the wind-blown tops before dropping off the spur to a creek. We checked the DOC 200 traps which were spaced every 100 m down the valley.
I enjoyed a fun scree slide before unexpectedly finding a rope to assist me down a small drop into a waterfall. Lisa and Andy, who were behind me, were much more sensible and handed their packs down, making a much more elegant job of it. I was very glad they hadn’t seen me going down – as I slipped and smashed my elbow hard against the rock – this caused my pack to tip, sending my drink bottle flying into the pool below. Luckily I managed to retrieve it before it got swept downstream.
A few of the traps had disappeared with Cyclone Gabrielle and we carried in A24 traps to replace them. I had never worked with A24 traps before, but Andy (who works at Goodnature (a company that produces traps – see: https://goodnature.co.nz/about-us) was able to teach me.
Lisa compared putting the automatic paste pump into the trap’s lid like a ‘cauliflower.’ For the rest of the trip I referred to the automatic paste pumps as ‘cauliflowers’ and suggested to Andy that perhaps he could get Goodnature to rename them.
The more traps we worked, the more efficient we got at leapfrogging each other and we soon arrived at Mistake Biv, where we picked up more supplies.
By this time we had seen a number of Whio – including a family with five ducklings. Lisa was very happy to see the large number of ducklings, as she told me that ever since there had been flooding associated with Cyclone Gabrielle, the Whio seemed to be having smaller families.
We rolled into Rockslide Hut just before 6.30pm. It had been a great day and I had really enjoyed the terrain we had covered – a variety of rock-hopping and a few sidles up rocks and steep banks aided by ropes.
Lisa and I pitched a tent since there were already people at the Hut. Unfortunately, the wood pile outside the hut was taking up the prime camping area, and with the limited space we needed to set the tent up on less-than-ideal ground. I realised that my side of the tent would have a massive tree root protruding into my back all night. While I’ve had many nights camping in interesting spots, I decided to call it quits and grab a spare bunk in the hut after all – the hunters staying in there cleared some space for us.
Sunday saw us continuing on down river towards Ikawetea Hut. We saw more Whio ducklings happily paddling along the river. Despite the strong wind, we were very sheltered in the valley and enjoyed the sunshine as we checked the traps. Before getting out of the river, we had to skirt around a log jam through deeper water that was mid-thigh deep.
We had a late lunch at Ikawetea Hut and experienced a variety of weather. One minute we were enjoying the hot sun, the next it was hailing. We escaped into the Hut to put storm gear on, only for the sun to come out again! Before leaving I checked the double trap at the hut and hit the jackpot – finding a rat on each end of it.
As we crossed the river to start up the hill we saw two older Whio ducklings go paddling past, bringing our total tally of Whio spotted to 17 ducklings over two days.
A weasel and a number of rats later, we decided to call it a day and we campws the night at a place Lisa and Geoff refer to as the ‘Slice of Heaven’ campsite – which is past point 936 on the topo map and off- track near a little stream. With the wind forecast to pick up later that night, we did a good risk assessment of the trees and branches above us. I’m always very cautious of this when picking a campsite – especially having experienced a tree fall down on the roof of a hut I was staying in once.
On Monday morning, we were back to climbing up the ridge. Lisa had said the day before that it is a relentless climb and on Monday morning I found out she wasn’t exaggerating. It was indeed a steep climb, although we got regular breaks with stops to check the traps along the way.
I referred to the area as “Hedgehog hill”, in light of all the hedgehogs we found in the traps on this ridge. Just below the bushline we stopped for a break and to layer up before heading out into the strong wind. Luckily the wind didn’t seem to be as bad as forecasted and we could actually enjoy the views along the Range from the tops, with good visibility, as we looped back around to No Mans Hut (via Tauwharepokoru – a peak at 1403 m elevation).
It was a wonderful three-day trip with really varied terrain and it was amazing to see Mauri Oho’s Northern Ruahine Biodiversity Recovery Project in action. I was in awe of how much volunteer time and love has been given to help protect the Ruahine Range biodiversity (especially the Whio and North Island eastern brown kiwi). It’s staggering to know there are over 50 km of traplines, and this also shows what can be achieved with dedicated community effort and so many different groups working towards a common goal.
Looking after our precious native species is an ongoing challenge and it can feel really heart-breaking at times when it feels like an uphill battle all the way. But we must keep fighting and be as resilient as our native birds, because even one rat or stoat can cause so much destruction.
A quote from DoC that has always stuck with me is: “For every conservation success, there are also losses—it is not simply a numbers game. Catching 50 rats means nothing if the 51st finds the colony. It is not what you catch that ultimately counts, it is what you leave behind.”
This quote indicates why so much effort needs to go into intensive trapping across New Zealand, including the Ruahine Range. We’re aiming to not just hold the line against predators, but to push that line right back until we achieve eradication, to ensure the safety of our native taonga species. It’s a big goal, but we can’t afford to be any less ambitious. The increase in the Whio population over the last few years is testament to the efforts of so many volunteers.
Volunteer trapping is something I would really encourage everyone in our club to get involved in. We need more fit volunteers to get to work on traplines in the Ruahine Range. You get to go tramping and do beneficial trapping work along the way (https://wtmc.org.nz/uncategorized/out-damn-stoat-a-tale-of-stoat-trapping-in-the-ruahines/).
The Whio population will only be sustained with continued trapping efforts and will be especially vulnerable over the next few years after this summer’s beech mast event (see: https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/national-predator-control-programme/forest-seed-monitoring/).