Philip Green and Paul Kavanagh. Photo: Claire Concannon / RNZ
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The bolt cutters are out. Philip Green bends over the live-capture cat trap, removing a piece of the top of the cage to attach a camera that will peer in and identify whatever comes to visit. A solar panel, AI module and squat white aerial are attached next.
This trap just got smarter.
Building networks of smart traps
This trap is getting a new home about midway up the Wye Valley. It's a short drive from Frankton on the way to Kingston, close to Lake Wakatipu. Not far up the steep track, there are stunning views of the lake and Cecil Peak.
Philip has been coming here a long time - first for the excellent climbing, then for trapping and planting with the climbing club. Lately, he's been visiting as part of his job as field and technical advisor for Southern Lakes Sanctuary.
Wye Valley is the latest 'smart' trap network that the sanctuary is establishing. They've already got three up and running - one in Bob's Cove, another in Bush Creek in Arrowtown, and one on Coronet face, below the ski field. They are working with two companies to build these networks: NZ Auto Traps - using their AT220 traps - and FTP Solutions. This same combination is also being trialled just outside Dunedin.
Philip Green and Paul Kavanagh at Wye Creek. Photo: Claire Concannon / RNZ
When set up, these traps can photograph, identify, and kill target predators, before resetting themselves to go again. They also send daily reports to Philip, letting him know how many times they've gone off, and sending mugshots of who has visited.
To err on the side of caution, Southern Lakes Sanctuary has set the traps to only arm once the inbuilt AI recognises a target species - possums or rodents - to a confidence level of 80 percent.
This is part of an ongoing trial to see whether smart traps could make their conservation mahi more efficient and effective, especially in difficult-to-reach areas.
However, efficiency wasn't the trigger for initially trialling smart traps. They were worried about one very smart parrot.
Whakatipu FTP networks. Photo: Southern Lakes Sanctuary
The kea problem
Established in 2021 with funding from Jobs for Nature, Southern Lakes Sanctuary is an umbrella organisation that wraps around existing community conservation groups across the Queenstown-Lakes district.
The idea for a regionally scaled effort had been in the works since 2018. And though in the long term the whole of the district is in their sights, at the moment the team is focused on seven project hubs: Makarora, Matukituki, Motatapu, Dart/Rees/Greenstone, Wānaka-Hāwea, Whakatipu, and Cardrona.
Photo: Karl Anderson/Unsplash
Among these alpine regions is plenty of kea country, says project director Paul Kavanagh.
"A big thing for us here… is that we don't have a kea-safe possum trap. So, it's the species we're most trying to protect. In a lot of our areas, the kea do make it a little bit difficult because of their curious intelligent nature," Paul says.
The Kea Conservation Trust has put together a list outlining which traps are safe to use in kea habitats, and which are not. There are not many in the first column: kea can remove screws and nails, roll traps over, set them off with sticks, and rip off the front mesh. But it's not all fun and games: several kea deaths have been reported too.
The basic AT220 is on the 'do not use' list, because recorded kākā deaths in Dunedin and Wellington mean kea are likely vulnerable too.
The team trialled disarmed 'smart' AT220-AI traps in the presence of kea at Kiwi Park in Queenstown. The kea had a great time playing with the traps, which meant the camera and AI had many opportunities to take snapshots. In more than 2000 images, the AI didn't once misidentify the kea as a target species.
In December 2024, the Department of Conservation gave the go-ahead for these smart traps to be used in kea habitat.
Bonnie Wilkins, Whakatipu coordinator, checking the light meter. Photo: Southern Lakes Sanctuary
Trapping plus
For Philip, clever use of the smart trap network might allow them to capture predators that are particularly wily, such as cats. He has deliberately placed the live capture cat trap - now upgraded to 'smart' status - next to an existing trap that's been killing possums and rodents.
Cats love a possum feed, he says, and with the network they can lure the cat in, almost in a 'Pavlovian dog' way.
The cats are clever enough to associate the sound of a possum trap with an easy feed. Philip will wait until the trap has been quiet, and then fire it remotely, luring the cat in. With no possum to eat, the cats will hopefully be enticed into the trap by rabbit instead.
Philip Green clears dead rats from the bottom of the trap. Photo: Claire Concannon / RNZ
He's also excited about other potential uses. Trail cameras equipped with AI could help with bird monitoring, feeding the information back through the meshed trap network.
Because, ultimately, that's the whole point, Philip says. "That measures your true success because we're really here to bring back the birds, bring back the lizards and the geckos, and get regeneration of the forest."
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