Story: Threatened species

Hunters Bob Cairns (left) and Geoff Alexander pose on Kapiti Island in the early 1980s. The wooden stakes Bob is carrying were used to set up possum traps. One stake was driven into the ground, and a second one leant against it at a 45-degree angle. A gin trap was then placed on the angled stake – ground traps could not be laid, as kiwi would have been caught in them. The trapping campaign was followed by a mopping-up operation using trained dogs and guns. In 1987 the island was declared possum free – the first time since possums were released there in 1893. By the 1990s and 2000s, islands were mainly cleared of other mammalian predators by aerial drops of edible pellets laced with the poison 1080.

Island sanctuaries

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Feeding takahē

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