Taranga Island, part of the part of the Hen & Chicken Island Group off the Whangarei coast of New Zealand’s North Island was declared free of rodents last month (click here).
The island supports breeding populations of Fluttering Puffinus gavia and Little P. assimilis Shearwaters, as well as of Pycroft’s Petrel Pterodroma pycrofti. “Monitoring has just been completed now that two years have passed since the aerial application of bait [in May 2011].
No rodent sign was recorded, which confirms they have been eradicated.”
The rodent species eradicated was the Pacific or Polynesian Rat or Kiore Rattus exulans.
4.7-km2 Taranga or Hen Island in the Hen & Chicken Islands Nature Reserve, is a strict 'no landing zone' to protect its fauna and flora.
Click here to read more about the eradication project.
Fluttering Shearwater
John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 3 August 2013