The Pomona Island project is now well established. Most of our work involves servicing our trap network, upgrading traps and monitoring systems. Development work in the past has included translocations of threatened species to Pomona and Rona Islands. We are always keen to keep up with developing technology such as self-setting traps, automatic lure dispensers, motion-activated trail cameras for monitoring, and using technology to gather information such as trapping apps.
Current research programs:
Audio moths on Pomona
Trap trigger detection system on Pomona
Rat situation on Pomona December 2022
Mouse incursion on Rona 2022
Volunteering
Volunteers are the backbone of our organisation. No-one is paid on the Trust and our funds are limited. If you have some spare time, find out how you can help on the volunteering page.
Re-introducing species
Re-introducing species is a complex task and has been carried out several times using expertise from the Department of Conservation.
Mohua, robins and Haast Tokoeka have been translocated to Pomona island.
Robins and tieke (South Island saddleback) have been translocated to Rona Island.
Monitoring
Pest monitoring is carried out by a network of trail cameras on Pomona Island. Some of the cameras are coupled with an Automatic Lure Dispenser to attract pests to the camera. We are able to measure the approximate rat abundance using this camera data, and respond to any threat with increased trapping frequency, or a poison application. On Rona Island we use a combination of trail cameras and tracking tunnels to monitor any pest incursion.
Maintenance
We are currently upgrading our trap network so that our traps are kea-proof. This involves replacing trap ends and baffles with stainless steel hardware, and improving trap closure hardware. This work is being carried out with a grant from the DOC Community Fund. We are also re-configuring our A24 self-setting trap distribution to target the more "ratty" areas on Pomona Island. Our 25 km of tracks on Pomona Island require regular track clearance.
