From student artwork to permanent signage, the new bat sign in Tamahere highlights the presence of long-tailed bats and the community effort behind making our special neighbours more visible.

Bird-song AI, good company and cake — our December gathering with Len Trigg marked our 10,000th pest removed and another strong year for Predator Free Tamahere.

Years of restoration planting and new gully access are helping improve habitat and support wider conservation efforts in Tamahere.

Recent ferret sightings in Tamahere are a timely reminder that these predators pose a serious risk to wildlife — and that well-placed well-maintained traps work.

Recent kākā sightings in Tamahere indicate more young birds exploring before nesting —please report any sightings to the Waikato kākā project or contact us to share the details!

SSCIF support from Waikato Regional Council has strengthened predator control in Tamahere’s gullies, supporting native wildlife alongside restoration planting.

Our partnership with Fulton Hogan’s Waikato team has been a huge success, with five AT220 traps along the Waikato Expressway removing 647 pests - including our 9000th catch!

We’re excited to celebrate another Predator Free Tamahere milestone - removing 8000 pests!

Since our group started in June 2022, our trapping efforts have led to a steady increase in possum catches, with November and December being our busiest months. As of November 2024, we’ve trapped over 1,180 possums, significantly helping protect our native wildlife.

We recently visited Matangi Primary and Pentagon Early Learning Centre to talk about pest control and trapping. The kids were really interested, asking great questions about how traps work and how we can protect our native wildlife from pests.

Tamahere is home to New Zealand's endangered long-tailed bats (pekapeka tou roa), vital for controlling insects and pollinating plants. To protect them, we must safeguard old trees, control pests, and preserve dark, green corridors amid threats from habitat loss and urbanisation.

Native bird activity in Hamilton’s gullies looks to be on the rise, with increased sightings of bellbirds and kereru in areas with strong conservation efforts. This highlights the need for us to continue and potentially ramp up our pest control and native planting in Tamahere to support these birds here as well

Our latest community event highlighted new NZ AutoTraps technology, including the advanced AT520-AI. We also celebrated our 6,000 pest milestone with another creative cake from Robyn Richardson.

We've discovered that to effectively control rats, traps alone aren't enough—adding toxin bait with a pulsing approach, used strategically throughout the year, should significantly boost our results and minimise waste.

For hard-to-reach areas like gullies and steep river banks, Philproof Bait Stations are an ideal choice due to their durability, weather resistance, and secure anchoring. Their tamper-proof design ensures bait stays protected, even in New Zealand’s toughest environments.

Did you know the PhilProof bait station is a local innovation by Phil Thomson? It represents many years of his dedication to conservation and has become a vital tool in pest management efforts

Our June 2024 monitoring revealed mixed results: while some areas show progress with lower rodent numbers, others, particularly public reserves, highlight the need for intensified pest control.

We’re excited to celebrate Predator Free Tamahere’s milestone of removing 5000 pests, with special thanks to Minh for his impressive contributions and Robyn for the delicious muffins—let’s keep up the great work and aim for 6000!

We’re ramping up our monitoring to fine-tune pest control and support native wildlife, so keep those trap reports coming—every detail helps us get smarter and more effective!