Diverse native wildlife on Mount Pirongia
can flourish this summer, thanks to a successful pest
control operation, says the Department of Conservation
(DOC).
As part of DOC’s ongoing nationwide Tiakina
Ngā Manu programme, predator control was carried out at
Pirongia Forest Park in September 2020, using aerially
applied 1080 over 14,000 hectares.
The work is part of
long-term conservation efforts at the site, which is an
important home to a huge range of forest birds, insects,
lizards and plants including, threatened species such as
pekapeka (bats), kōkako and
Dactylanthus—a rare
parasitic plant.
“Possum monitoring, before and
after the control operation shows we’ve reduced the