Kia ora,

I hope this finds you and your loved ones safe and well after what has been a strange and, at times, challenging few weeks.

With the recent easing of restrictions under COVID-19 Alert Level 2, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide another update on the status of the Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) team and our programme of work.

During the Alert Level 4 lockdown period, all field work at the Perth River valley site was on hold, and only animal husbandry tasks (i.e. no trials) were carried out at Lincoln. All staff who were able to work from home did so, including our field team, who shared a house in Hokitika and were ironically a lot less socially isolated during this time than they are used to being!

On 28 April, the beginning of the Alert Level 3 period, the field team returned to work in the Perth River valley (a site re-entry that was particularly memorable for one of our rangers), and we resumed trials and the supply of products at our predator behaviour facility in Lincoln. We developed new safety procedures for both sites, to protect our people and manage any public health risk associated with returning to work. Where possible, the rest of our team continued to work from home during the Level 3 period, and many team members are continuing to do so through Level 2. We remain in regular contact by phone, email, video conferencing and the magic of social media.

Our network of lured trail cameras in the Perth River field site has revealed that a small number of rats survived the spot treatment operation that we carried out earlier this year, and are very likely to have begun to breed during our absence from the site. Given the speed with which rats can re-populate, removing these rats before their population can spread has become our most urgent priority in the Perth River valley. We are using a range of targeted ground-based methods, including traps and bait stations, to achieve this.

We have also begun work to remove the 3-5 possums that survived the predator removal operation, and to remove a small number of invading stoats. Both responses involve deploying ground-based methods around the locations where these animals have been detected on camera. We are pleased to report that, on Monday 18 May, our ranger Mike and his dog Pepper successfully removed one of the possums from the site!

We will continue to notify you as soon as possible about any significant developments that affect our programme of work. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us if required.

Wishing you all the very best, and thank you once again for your continued support.

Ngā mihi nui,

Al Bramley

Chief Executive, Zero Invasive Predators