{"id":161956,"date":"2025-09-22T22:16:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/161956\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T22:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:16:10","slug":"stoat-that-swam-to-predator-free-island-has-stay-cut-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/161956\/","title":{"rendered":"Stoat that swam to predator-free island has stay cut short"},"content":{"rendered":"

A stoat caught in a trap on a predator-free island in the Marlborough Sounds likely swam across from a nearby island, according to DOC.<\/p>\n

The predator was captured on a Oruawairua\/Blumine Island trail camera in July, and DOC became aware of it in mid-August during a monthly photo review.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The stoat was captured on a trail camera in July. (Source: Department of Conservation)<\/p>\n

Stoats were the number-one killer of many of NZ’s endangered species. Oruawairua was home to vulnerable bird species such as the k\u0101k\u0101riki karaka, mohua and t\u012beke\/saddleback.<\/p>\n

DOC Picton biodiversity ranger Amy Brunsden said quickly trapping the stoat was the best result possible, and showed the value of the trapping and surveillance network on the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cCritically endangered k\u0101k\u0101riki karaka nest and roost in tree holes so they\u2019re extremely vulnerable to predation and even one stoat could do lots of damage,” she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be sure it was only one stoat, we\u2019ve also put out extra trail cameras and tracking tunnels which detect introduced predators. A trained stoat detection dog will also check the island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stoats were surprisingly good swimmers, she said. While this one likely swam around 400m across from nearby Arapaoa Island, they have been recorded swimming as far as 5km.<\/p>\n

\"Arapaoa<\/p>\n

Arapaoa Island is only 400m from Oruawairua Island at its closest point. (Source: Google Maps)<\/p>\n

She said it was a good reminder for people to not take public eco-sanctuaries like Oruawairua for granted, and to follow quarantine procedures.<\/p>\n

“Everyone has a role in protecting nature.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A stoat caught in a trap on a predator-free island in the Marlborough Sounds likely swam across from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,2929,75,107143,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-161956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-conservation","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-marlborough","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}