Rotary Whakatane's guest speakers were club member and birthday boy Craig and his partner Bridget (“the Palmers”) who gave us an update and tag-team presentation on the Rotary Predator Trap Project. The project came about when the inspirational idea to try and get hold of stoat traps from a local supplier aligned with the Menz Shed group looking for something to do. Stoats are the number one predator of Kiwi chicks. It took about a year to put things together, but the project is going very well now.
The traps are built by Menz Shed using local suppliers for the materials and are delivered to your door. The funds raised go to support local youth environmental initiatives and environmental education.
The Trap Project is a partnership between the Whakatane Kiwi Trust, the Halo Trust and RotaryStoats are the number one predator of Kiwi chicks. It took about a year to put things together, but the project is going very well now. The traps are built by Menz Shed using local suppliers for the materials and are delivered to your door. The funds raised go to support local youth environmental initiatives and environmental education. The Trap Project is a partnership between the Whakatane Kiwi Trust, the Halo Trust and Rotary.
The motto is “save the locals, corrugate a stoat”. The trapping mechanism which provides the corrugated look to the deceased stoat is DOC endorsed, branded and (most importantly) it works. The traps had to be Weka (and cat) proofed so people in urban areas would be happy to have them in their backyards. They are designed to kill stoats, ferrets, rats and large mice,
It is important to let the community know what the Trap Project is all about. Whakatane is “community rich” so there are a lot of volunteers assisting the project in a number of ways. The Regional Council has placed the largest order to date of 200 traps. The push now is to get more and more traps on the ground.
Funding is an on-going issue with continual applications for funding having to be made. To assist with funding it is possible sponsor a trap for $135 per annum – of which $85 goes to Rotary and $50 goes to the Kiwi Trust. This would make a great gift for the person who has (almost) everything. Rotary needs to get in behind this idea and spread the word – see details below:
The motto is “save the locals, corrugate a stoat”. The trapping mechanism which provides the corrugated look to the deceased stoat is DOC endorsed, branded and (most importantly) it works. The traps had to be Weka (and cat) proofed so people in urban areas would be happy to have them in their backyards. They are designed to kill stoats, ferrets, rats and large mice,
It is important to let the community know what the Trap Project is all about. Whakatane is “community rich” so there are a lot of volunteers assisting the project in a number of ways. The Regional Council has placed the largest order to date of 200 traps. The push now is to get more and more traps on the ground.
Funding is an on-going issue with continual applications for funding having to be made. To assist with funding it is possible sponsor a trap for $135 per annum – of which $85 goes to Rotary and $50 goes to the Kiwi Trust. This would make a great gift for the person who has (almost) everything. Rotary needs to get in behind this idea and spread the word – see details below:
Another initiative
is Urban Trapping, with the goal to get a trap of some kind in every fifth backyard in Whakatane, especially those backyards that back onto reserves.
is Urban Trapping, with the goal to get a trap of some kind in every fifth backyard in Whakatane, especially those backyards that back onto reserves. The Halo Trust has obtained funding so it can buy Rotary Traps for full price and sell them to urban trappers for $40.
There are endless opportunities ahead for the Rotary Trap Project which is a win-win situation – for the Kiwi in our local environment and for youth and conservation initiatives which benefit from the proceeds of the trap sales.
It is also totally aligned with the government’s aim to be predator-free by 2050.