Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Mutunga have partnered with Boffa-Miskell and Plant & Food Research New Zealand to develop and trial a new cat lure made from the silvervine plant for the management of feral cats in our conservation areas. This trial is also being undertaken in other locations around Aotearoa including Northern Kaipara with hapu Uri o Hau and Aotea with the iwi-led conservation project Tū Mai Taonga.
We have distributed 50 cat lure stations throughout Taramoukou with the team from Boffa-Miskell during the last week of February. This was no easy feat taking three days working mostly in two teams each day. It was great to have Arwen along with the team as part of her studies at Auckland University. Arwen is an uri of Ngāti Mutunga from the Houpapa whānau. We have really enjoyed spending time in the field with her learning about her studies and showing her around Taramoukou and sharing stories. These cameras were pulled in on the week of the 23rd March and redistributed Pouiatoa.
We are really looking forward to reviewing the footage on these cameras to see what is out there and the interaction of the cats with the new lure.