Science Media Centre

The Government plans to form a joint-venture company it will use to spearhead pest eradication efforts it hopes will exterminate all rats, stoats and possums in New Zealand by 2050. As part of the predator-free plan, four goals have been set for 2025: An additional 1 million hectares of land where pests have been suppressed […]

The media attention is back on pests such as rats and stoats as the Department of Conservation (DOC) gears up for one the largest predator control operations ever attempted in New Zealand. Aerial 1080 drops will be getting underway in Kahurangi National Park later this month, as part of a national effort to combat soaring […]

A campaign launched by economist Gareth Morgan to raise awareness about the impact of cats on native wildlife has elicited a range of opinions, but what does the evidence say? This week , Dr Morgan launched the Cats-to-go campaign, calling for further efforts to prevent cats killing native birds. Recommendations included: affixing bells to collars, keeping cats […]

New Zealand researchers are looking at two important marine species, snapper and dolphins, in the wake of ground-breaking lab-based research showing predators select prey for a nutritionally-balanced diet that will give them the best chance of producing healthy offspring. Nutritional ecologist Professor David Raubenheimer, of  Massey University — whose work with researchers at Oxford, Exeter, […]