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A hedgehog with a GPS tag attached.
New University of Otago research has been examining how alpine-based hedgehogs hibernate from a different perspective – their backs.
Dr Nick Foster
Dr Nick Foster from the Department of Zoology has been involved with the Te Manahuna Aoraki project and has been attaching small transmitting “backpacks” onto hedgehogs in the Mackenzie Basin’s alpine zones.
The goal of this study, which has just been published in the New Zealand Journal of Ecology, was to find out whether hedgehogs, which can be found up to 2000m in summer, travel to lower elevations when winter threatens.
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New survey shows rock wren hot spots
Rock wrens/tuke live year-round in the harsh alpine environment. No bigger than a silvereye, they are weak flyers and nest on the ground, making them easy prey for rats and stoats.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) began monitoring rock wrens at 22 sites from Fiordland to Kahurangi in 2019 to measure how populations respond to predator control. Two summer surveys have been completed.
DOC lead researcher Tristan Rawlence says results are showing healthy rock wren/tuke populations largely where predators are managed.
“For the first time we’re getting an overall picture of how rock wrens are doing and it’s looking good where predators are controlled, but dire where they’re not.
For more than 100 years bounty hunters sponsored by the Government tried their hardest to eradicate the kea. Now, as bird numbers decline, conservationists fight to prevent that fate.