Mahakirau Forest Sanctuary

28/08/2026

Another year of conservation powered by science, partnership and gracious investment of volunteer time. Thousands of actions, countless small gains - all adding up to greater knowledge and protection for our remarkable biodiversity.

20/08/2026

🏆 Science journalism with real-world impact

A huge congratulations to journalist Naomi Arnold and photographer Rob Suisted, whose beautiful NZ Geographic feature 'One pig. One night. Fifty-six frogs' was selected as a finalist in the 2026 Science Journalism Awards: https://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2026/04/29/science-journalism-stars-of-2026/

Even more meaningful to us was the judges' recognition of the story's impact - helping our research into pig predation of native frogs reach a much wider audience and contributing to further funding for research and pig control.

The story grew from work here at Mahakirau investigating what introduced predators are actually eating. The results have been confronting, but important - revealing just how vulnerable our ancient native frogs are to pigs and reinforcing why effective predator control needs to protect the whole ecosystem, not just our birds.

Wonderful science communication can turn field observations into awareness, awareness into support, and support into action.

Congratulations Naomi & Rob - and thank you for telling this story so beautifully: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/one-pig-one-night-fifty-six-frogs/

💚

Researchers have long suspected that pigs and other pests were eating our exquisitely rare native frogs. Now, we know for sure—and the scoffing is on an incredible scale.

17/08/2026

A decade of getting to know Toropuku 🦎

What began with a rustle in the leaf litter in 2015 has grown into a substantial collection of carefully documented encounters - and thousands of passionate volunteer hours dedicated to one stunning species that has entirely captured our hearts.

Northern Striped geckos are truly wonderful to work with - remarkably calm in the hand, habitual in their behaviour, yet endlessly capable of surprising us. A decade of searching through every extreme of Coromandel weather has slowly allowed us to piece together fragments of their secret lives.

This year we celebrate 10 years of survey work alongside Auckland Zoo. The Zoo carries out inspirational conservation work around the globe, and we are incredibly grateful - and proud - to have their team working alongside us. Beyond the fieldwork, that decade has given us a fabulous sounding board for ideas, observations, questions and discovery. Special thanks to Jenny, Nick, Don and Richard - you guys are like family to us.

We’re equally grateful to the University of Otago for supporting Toropuku through academic research and publication, and to the countless ecologists, photographers, volunteers and enthusiasts who have invested their time, curiosity and expertise in this remarkable species over the years.

It is an enormous privilege to be in a position to protect Northern Striped geckos while also contributing to the scientific knowledge that will help safeguard their future.

Ten years of looking closely - and we’re still completely captivated.
💚

14/08/2026

🦎💚

Today we celebrate the ancient little dragons quietly sharing our world.

Aotearoa is home to an extraordinary 147 native gecko and skink species - and every single one is found nowhere else on Earth.

Mahakirau is home to a handful of these remarkable reptiles, among them the iconic Northern Striped Gecko [Toropuku inexpectatus] - endemic to the Hauraki Coromandel and classified Threatened - Nationally Vulnerable.

Rare, cryptic and exquisitely beautiful - with an exceptionally long tail and slender, sticky fingers. 🌿

The sobering reality? Of this rich diversity of endemic lizards, just four species are currently classified Not Threatened.

Our lizards are in serious trouble.

07/08/2026

Toropuku inexpectatus.
Even the name hints at a master of stealth and surprise.

For a decade we've searched for these remarkable geckos by spotlight, slowly piecing together their secret lives. But no matter how careful the search, there were always questions we simply couldn't answer.

Telemetry research gave us the ability to follow those questions.

The findings confirmed that Northern Striped geckos are even more elusive than we imagined - quietly using a far broader range of habitat than spotlight surveys alone could reveal. By following their movements, we discovered behaviours that had remained hidden from us, helping explain why this species has proven so difficult to find and monitor.

Every study like this peels back another layer of mystery. And with every answer comes a better understanding of how to protect one of Aotearoa's most cryptic reptiles.

Congratulations to Harriet and everyone involved in bringing another piece of the Toropuku story to light. 💚🦎

Research partners 🙏🏽 Auckland Zoo & Sciences at University of Otago
Publication: https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/3638

05/08/2026

🐦 Crowd Mob

A swirling flock of pīwakawaka (fantails) captured on dashcam.

04/08/2026

These percentages represent more than predator abundance.

They reflect a landscape where sustained suppression is creating the opportunity for native species to reclaim the ecological space they once occupied.

31/07/2026

Restoring an ecosystem is rarely defined by a single breakthrough.

It is the accumulation of thousands of deliberate actions, repeated year after year, that gradually shifts the balance back towards nature.

28/07/2026

We've quietly passed an extraordinary milestone - over 2,000 stoats removed at Mahakirau. It's a sobering number, and one that inevitably makes you wonder how many stoats still roam New Zealand's unmanaged forests.

On World Nature Conservation Day, we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone working to protect the wild. From remote mountain tops to backyard reserves, from research laboratories to muddy traplines, every hour of effort gives our endemic wildlife another chance.

Conservation is rarely glamorous, often exhausting, and never truly finished - but together we continue to offer hope to species that cannot speak for themselves.

🙏🏽😘

27/07/2026

This one nearly slipped through our fingers.

Our gecko surveillance camera picked it up quietly moving through the southern edge of Mahakirau.

Knowing what was at stake, we acted immediately.

Cat traps were refreshed with a diverse menu - including prime cuts of organic chicken fillet from the private freezer - that ultimately proved lethally irresistible. Freshly killed rats were strategically placed near trap sites, while cream lure was laid along the obvious travel routes. The rats weren't simply bait - they were an easy meal to keep the cat focused away from nearby taonga while we worked to humanely intercept it. Geckos, skinks and frogs all occupied the immediate area, and we'd just received a report of a juvenile kiwi nearby.

The cat never returned to the original camera site.

Instead of following it, we tried to get ahead of it.

For the next ten days and nights we pieced together its movements through camera footage, s**t, fresh predation and field sign, gradually predicting where it would move next. Almost 3 km from where it first appeared, Mahakirau's predator control network finally brought the story to an end.

Necropsy revealed a bulging stomach full of rats - exactly what we'd hoped for. We also found the leg of a sparrow... one introduced species we don't mind disappearing from the forest.

I'll admit something that may surprise people.

Felines are probably my favourite mammalian genus - in the right setting. They are intelligent, beautiful, adaptable and extraordinary hunters. I've even found the remains of stoats inside cat stomachs.

But that's also exactly why a feral cat moving through a sanctuary demands immediate action. Around the world, and here in New Zealand, their impact on native reptiles, amphibians and birds is well documented.

This individual had entered Mahakirau from the south through rugged, remote country before reaching the heart of the sanctuary supporting some of our most vulnerable wildlife.

Mahakirau is permanently protected under a QEII National Trust covenant, where introduced plant and animal species are not permitted and are actively managed to safeguard our indigenous biodiversity.

These decisions are never about the cat. They're about the wildlife that has nowhere else to go.