A dead rat two days after it was tracked.
In July and August 2004
Trust staff and volunteers cut gridlines and monitoring tunnels in the two enclosures in preparation for the pest monitoring operation. A total of 793 tunnels were laid across the two enclosures with the longest gridline in the northern enclosure measuring 875 metres and 1050 metres in the southern enclosure.
21 and 22 August 2004
The pre-pest monitoring exercise was conducted in the enclosures. Only rats were detected. Ink on many of the tracking cards appeared to have been licked off and some cards and tunnels had been chewed. The rat tracking rate in the southern enclosure was calculated at 97.5%, with a 96.6% tracking rate in the northern enclosure.
8 September 2004
Brodifacoum laced bait was aerially spread across the northern and southern enclosures.
16 October 2004
The pest monitoring exercise in the enclosures began. First to check their lines were Willetta Staheli, Rosalie Treanor and Lesley Efremoff who had two lines in the southern enclosure. A couple of hours after entering the bush they had returned with a bundle of tracking cards showing no evidence of rats or mice but a healthy selection of weta and lizards prints.
Ally Tairi checking tracking tunnels.
July 2005
The Department of Conservation declared the enclosures safe for kiwi.
23 July 2005
Milestone event - four kiwi were released into the northern enclosure. They were the first kiwi to walk on Maungatautari in an estimated 100 years.
1 November 2006
Brodifacoum laced baits were aerially spread across the main mountain (minus the enclosures) followed six weeks later by a second drop.
7 September 2007
Third aerial spread of Brodifacoum over the main mountain.
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