FAQs

Our project area covers 30,000 ha and around 70,000 households. It stretches from Miramar Peninsula across to the south-west corner of Mākara and up to a boundary along the SH1 motorway to Porirua City. We divided the area into five phases. We gain permission from households, businesses and landowners to create a network of elimination devices to totally remove predators. This project builds on the fantastic work of community trapping groups.

We use a remove and protect model. We declare a phase ‘predator free’ before moving onto the next one. That means now Phase 1 is complete, we’re working on Phase 2. Moving into a new phase adds another layer of defence for the predator free status of the previous phase.

To confirm a phase is predator free we use monitoring tools (like a camera network and rat detection dogs) and also rely on our community to report activity. Miramar Peninsula (Phase 1) has been in this ‘biosecurity phase’ since predators were removed in November 2023. You can read about the threat of re-incurring rats here.

Community trapping groups provide traps for people to use in their backyards. There is one for every suburb (or a group of neighbouring suburbs) across Wellington. They are independent and run by volunteers.

Predator Free Wellington works alongside these groups carrying out the formal elimination. This involves overlaying an intensive network of traps, bait stations and monitoring devices across the project area. Devices installed as part of the formal elimination are free and fully serviced by our team.

Becoming predator free is a team effort. Community trapping is vital for lowering rat populations. Once the formal elimination begins in an area, every trap counts and could catch the last rat. Ki te kāpuia e kore e whati – we succeed together! Read more about this partnership here.

Predator Free 2050 Ltd directs Crown investment into the Predator Free programme, with a focus on breakthrough science and large-scale predator control and elimination initiatives. They currently support five large-scale elimination projects around the country (including us!).

Predator Free NZ Trust is an independent organisation formed in 2013. It engages and supports individuals and community groups, and provides the information and expertise they need. The Trust runs the Kiwibank Predator Free Community programme which supports communities to take action in their backyard.

Predator Free Wellington works alongside both of these organisations. We are taking a community-led approach to being the first predator free city in New Zealand.

Our unique environment evolved in New Zealand for millions of years without introduced predators. We don’t expect negative effects but we don’t have all the answers yet as this has never been done before. On Miramar Peninsula where we have successfully removed predators, we are seeing incredibly positive results for native wildlife and have a comprehensive monitoring framework in place to measure ecosystem changes over time.

No, our work focuses on rats, possums, stoats and weasels as it forms part of the wider mission of Predator Free 2050. We encourage residents to be responsible pet owners. This means keeping cats at home where they are happiest and safest (especially overnight), so that our native wildlife can be happy and safe too. To learn more about responsible cat ownership, Wellington City Council has some helpful pointers.

Our work focuses on rats, possums and mustelids as these have the greatest impact on native biodiversity and it also means our work agrees with the wider mission of Predator Free 2050.

There are so many ways you can get involved – join a community trapping group (to set and check a trap in your own backyard or local reserve) or volunteer with us as a community ranger. See our support us page for more information.

Our network involves toxin bait stations on a 50m x 50m grid and traps on a 100m x 100m grid across the areas where we are working. These grids mean we’ll cover and access all rat home ranges and is the lowest density required. We also consider the habitat and in some areas may create a denser network, for example, in cape ivy which is a known rat habitat. Once an area is free of predators, it moves into ‘biosecurity’ and is actively monitored for reinvasion.

We are running a predator elimination (rather than ongoing predator control and suppression) to prevent the long-term use of toxins and its associated costs.

We’re using plastic bait stations (top row) that contain brodifacoum toxic bait. Rats eat the bait and die several days later. We are also using Victor traps in wooden boxes (bottom left). These traps humanely kill rats. We also use peanut butter-filled chew cards (bottom right) to understand if a rat is in the area but not taking bait. All these devices are secure and we’ll talk with you to find the best spot to put them.

The traps we use meet NAWAC (National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee) standards. We also chose brodifacoum as our preferred bait toxin. This is carefully secured in bait stations and is safest choice for pets as there is an antidote available using Vitamin K.

The traps are protected by a wooden box and are designed to prevent pet and child access. The bait is carefully placed in secured bait stations that are placed out of reach for pets and/or young children.

These methods have been safely used on the Miramar Peninsula for the past three years, involving thousands of households, businesses and schools. In the very unlikely event that you think your pet may be ill from eating poisoned rats or bait, there is an effective antidote available using Vitamin K which a vet can administer.

No, signing up your property to host a trap or bait station as part of our elimination network is entirely free!

No, the trap or bait station we install on your property is fully serviced by our team. If the trap catches anything we’ll remove the animal and do an autopsy to understand things like its age and if it had given birth. We are also building a genetic map of rats in the city.

We’ll regularly check the trap or bait station on your property but how often will depend on our progress.

We’ll talk with you to help decide on the best location for traps and bait stations. We’ll also be highly mindful of your privacy and specific requirements.

The devices on your property will be there for as long as we are actively working in your phase. On Miramar, this was between 2019 and 2023. For Phase 2 it will likely be between 12 and 18 months as we refine our processes. Some devices need to remain in place longer as part of our biosecurity network which prevents incursions into a predator free area in the future.

If you already have a trap, please keep using this in addition to our traps and bait stations, as it only strengthens the network – every trap counts!

To get rat numbers to zero, our team needs to place and service bait stations on a 50m x 50m grid and traps on 100m x 100m grid across the project area. This density ensures that a rat comes across one of these devices within its home range. Before installing this network of devices, our team will ask for permission to place a device on your property and check it regularly. This free service is conducted with the utmost respect for your privacy and safety.

Our project isn’t focused on mice, though predator free community groups do record these catches. The best thing to do is buy a couple of low-cost mouse traps (supermarket or hardware store ones work well), and tuck one next to the fridge or nearby – just follow the instructions! Rats eat mice so once we remove rats, you may see an increase in mice. Mice numbers also change seasonally.