12/06/2026
Our kiwi must be the last tough survivors. We have cleared out 20 ferrets since our inception. 1 last year. Our best year was 7. Thanks to one of the landowners who targets these villains with persistence. We utilize live capture traps, Timms, SA cat and DOC 250s. However the live captures seem to be more successful and they catch cats as well. We have caught over 200 of those. Holding the line!
Of the 142,096 pests trapped in 2025 across Northland only 9 were ferrets. Mapping the catch locations confirms that as per previous years, no ferrets were caught in the Far North. It looks like a ferret front line spanning coast to coast and it is similar each year we have mapped the data.
Combining the catches with a map of high density kiwi populations (dark purple blobs) shows an even more remarkable pattern, first identified in the mid 1990's by Dr Ray Pierce: in general, where we have ferrets, we no longer have strong kiwi populations.
It means those catches of ferrets by the Pukenui Western Hills Forest Trust and Manulife Whanui projects were absolutely critical. Well done trappers!
Kiwi Coast supports a 'Zero Tolerance' approach to ferrets - let's ensure our projects have ferret capable traps and toxins, treat every Northland ferret catch as crucial, stop that line moving northwards and work on driving ferrets out of Northland!
