Trapping is hard mahi, especially on rugged terrain thick with vegetation. If you need to check a trap frequently to clear it and refresh the lure, the kilometres of bush bashing quickly add up. Plus, in areas where kea are found, trap options are limited by concerns for these curious and intelligent parrots. A team in Queenstown are investigating if the latest ‘smart’ traps – equipped with cameras, AI-powered to recognise specific targets, and networked so they can communicate and be operated remotely – might be the answer.

Guests:

• Paul Kavanagh, project director, Southern Lakes Sanctuary
• Philip Green, field and technical advisor, Southern Lakes Sanctuary

Learn more:

• Read the article that accompanies this episode.
• Country Life tagged along with the Halo project, part of Predator Free Dunedin, who are also trialling networked AI traps just north of the city.
• One of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary hubs at Makaroraisfocused on trapping to protect mohua, and they are trialling an AI method to identifyindividual birds by their song.
• In the Catlins, a team are battling predators and browsing pests to protect taonga there.

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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details