DSC_6797 Stoat (Mustela erminea) male with predated orange-fronted parakeet. Stoats were introduced into New Zealand in 1884 (to control introduced rabbits) and have now become a most difficult pest to control. Orange-fronted parakeets are as rare as kakapo and vulnerable to introduced predators such as ship rats and stoats - particularly during irruption years following mast seeding events. Orange-fronteds are restricted to four beech (Fuscospora spp.) forest valleys in the South Island: the Hawdon, Andrews and Poulter valleys in Arthur’s Pass National Park and the south branch of the Hurunui valley in Lake Sumner Forest Park *
DSC_6755 Stoat (Mustela erminea) male with orange-fronted parakeet. Introduced into New Zealand in 1884 (to control introduced rabbits), stoats have become a most difficult pest to control. Initially weasels were introduced along with stoats (and in greater numbers), but ultimately it is the stoat which has become the widespread pest. Both stoats and weasels are highly efficient predators of all of our native birds *
11002-21108 Stoat (Mustela erminea) female with a kaka killed on its nest *
