Frequently Asked Questions
What is Predator Free Dunedin?
Predator Free Dunedin is a conservation collective of more than 20 organisations working collaboratively to protect native biodiversity and strengthen communities.
Together, our members and delivery partners share a long-term vision to get remove possums, rats, and stoats from Dunedin’s urban and rural landscapes by 2050.
Who is involved with Predator Free Dunedin?
The Predator Free Dunedin community includes a wide range of people and organisations.
The Predator Free Dunedin Trust is the governance body for our project. Trustees are elected by our member organisations to ensure the project’s goals and milestones are being met effectively.
We have more than 20 member organisations who share the vision for a Predator Free Dunedin. From conservation groups to local government and businesses — we all want to see thriving biodiversity and communities in Ōtepoti/Dunedin through large-scale predator eradication.
Predator Free Dunedin supports three delivery partners to lead on-the-ground efforts across three main areas. This includes City Sanctuary (being delivered by Dunedin City Council), the Halo Project (being delivered by the Landscape Connections Trust) and Predator Free Peninsula (being delivered by the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group).
What area is included in Predator Free Dunedin?
We are working across 63,000 hectares of Dunedin’s urban and rural landscapes. From North Taieri to the Waikouaiti River, across West Harbour and Mount Cargill, through the city, and out to the Otago Peninsula.
You can explore the area included in our project on our interactive map.
Why are predators such a problem?
Introduced predators like rats, possums, and mustelids (stoats, ferrets, and weasels) are a major problem for New Zealand’s native biodiversity.
New Zealand has one of the highest extinction rates of native species in the world, and this is largely due to predation.
Since predators arrived in New Zealand, they have pushed our native wildlife to the brink of extinction — killing millions of native birds, lizards, and insects every year. Today, more than 4,000 of our native species are classified as threatened or at risk of extinction. Predator control, and ultimately eradication, is critical for the survival of our native taoka species.
How can I get a trap?
That depends on where you live! We have three projects that include different parts of Dunedin — the city, peninsula, and in the halo across West Harbour - Mt Cargill. Depending on where you live, you may be able to access a backyard trap.
You can also buy a possum or rat trap at Dunedin’s i-Site Centre in the Octagon. They will provide all the information you need to get involved with backyard trapping and join the predator free movement.
Can I volunteer?
Absolutely! Get in touch with one of our three projects to find out how you can be involved.
What predators are you targeting?
Predator Free Dunedin is targeting rats, possums, and mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels). These are the species included in the wider Predator Free 2050 strategy. However, we do expect other introduced predators such as mice and hedgehogs will be caught in traps.
Are you targeting cats?
No, we aren’t targeting cats. However, we do recognise the impact that cats have on native wildlife like birds, lizards and insects. We strongly encourage people to be responsible cat owners. This means getting your cat de-sexed, micro-chipped, and limiting the number of cats you own. You can also keep your cats inside from dusk until dawn as this is when they are most likely to hunt native species. This has the added benefits of keeping your cat safe.
Predator Free Dunedin supports council-led cat control initiatives and has advocated strongly for local by-laws or national legislation to support responsible cat ownership.
Are my pets safe around traps?
Keeping pets safe is an important part of the work we do. All traps are installed and baited in a way that minimises the risk of pets and children being injured. Our team also carries out site assessments to ensure the risk is low.
What tools do you use?
We currently use a mixture of traps and toxins across the project area. For monitoring, we use a range of different tools including chew cards, tracking tunnels, wax tags, and even trail cameras.
What traps do you use?
Our projects use a range of different traps.
Are your traps humane?
Ensuring a humane kill is a priority for Predator Free Dunedin and its delivery partners. We aim to use tools that meet the government’s animal welfare guidelines which determine whether a trap is effective a killing an animal humanely.
How do I report what I catch in my traps?
Recording what you catch (or don’t catch) is an important part of predator control. The best way to report on your trapping efforts and join the vision for a Predator Free Dunedin is to use Trap.NZ. This is used nationwide as a predator trapping and monitoring tool, providing us with an up-to-date tally of how many predators have been removed from Dunedin.
This helps us to understand how the programme is going, identify areas we need to improve on, and shows results that may even help secure funding.
Are you using 1080?
Sodium fluoroacetate, also known as 1080, is not currently being used within our operational area. However, we do recognise that in some areas, aerial 1080 operations are the only effective way to control introduced predators and protect vulnerable native wildlife. Predator Free Dunedin will not rule out the use of any tool for achieving its vision without a thorough investigation of its costs and benefits.
How is the project being funded?
Predator Free 2050 Limited is the principal funder for our project. It has committed $4.33 million in co-funding over five years (from 2019 to 2023) and recently provided an additional $3.5 million over four years (from 2021 to 2025) to accelerate and expand our work. This crown-owned company provides co-funding to enable large-scale predator control projects across New Zealand and is making a significant contribution to the New Zealand government’s goal of eradicating possums, stoats, and rats by 2050.
Dunedin City Council is providing $850,000 in funding over five years (from 2019 to 2023) and supports the project by contributing its predator control work on council reserves as an in-kind contribution totalling $500,000. It is also the delivery partner for our City Sanctuary project. Otago Regional Council is contributing $1.5 million in funding over five years (from 2019 to 2023) and has extended its support with additional funding for the West Harbour Mt Cargill possum plan.
Wenita Forest Products and its parent company New Forests are supporting our work with funding of $970,000 to carry out predator control on their own forestry estate and in nearby conservation areas. City Forests are also providing funding of $435,000 to support possum control in Flagstaff and Silver Peaks.
Can I make a donation?
Predator Free Dunedin is a registered charitable trust and welcomes any support you may be able to provide. You can choose to make a one-off or recurring donation on our Givealittle page, or even donate a trap to the project on behalf of you or your loved ones.
Is the vision for a Predator Free New Zealand achievable?
New Zealand has a history of being world leaders in predator control. There are more than 110 predator free islands across the country – from Ruapeke, the first to be cleared of rats in 1960, to Campbell Island in the middle of the Southern Ocean, some 700 kilometres from mainland New Zealand. We are simply attempting to replicate this across the entire mainland.
Whether people think it’s possible or not, we must try. New Zealand has one of the highest extinction rates of native species in the world, and this is largely due to predation. We can’t sit around while more of our native taoka species are lost.
Where did the predator free vision come from?
In July 2015, Prime Minister John Key announced a nationwide goal for a Predator Free New Zealand and established Predator Free 2050 Limited to direct crown investment towards this goal.
In March 2017, the Predator Free Dunedin Trust was formed as a coalition of 20 conservation-focused groups. In October 2018, Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced $4.33 million in funding for Predator Free Dunedin at a launch event in Dunedin. This was the first South Island project to be funded by Predator Free 2050 Limited and one of five landscape scale projects funded nationally.