Tena koutou katoa, I have had a big month in February laying new traplines in Omoana with the team for both TKT and the 800 trust, we’ve also started some of the 2022 trap audits on our properties in Tongaporutu and Omahina, which has made for a very busy and exciting time! At the beginning of the month, I was lucky enough to get out kiwi tracking in Te Papakura O Taranaki with Kiwi Ranger Toby, we spent a couple days looking for birds Mawe and Muller (who are very good at playing hide and seek) we hustled through some pretty rugged bush and even up into the clouds, unfortunately we couldn’t find them (which sometimes happens) so the plane was called in to fly over and track them so we could get an accurate idea of where they are, and go back in for a second crack.
I headed to Tongaporutu for some days this month working with landowners checking out their properties and trap networks, it was awesome being able to work so close to my home. I’ve been putting my quad training to use up the Hutiwai and got my first feral cat in a DOC200 trap, who was hungry for some rabbit which I had previously used as bait in those traps! Erin Reilly from Save the Kiwi interviewed me about how my training/volunteering started and how I am working in the role I am in today which was very cool, keep an eye out for a read of that on the Save the Kiwi page and the TKT page 😊 I’m happy with my steps this month, which total at 228,758!
You can make a donation to Māia’s 2 millions step campaign at our Givealittle page https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/taranakikiwi