Mouse plague threatens rare skink

The Department of Conservation plans to control a mouse plague that is threatening to destroy a small population of critically endangered Alborn skinks near Reefton using the toxin brodifacoum in bait stations

Mouse numbers have been tracking consistently high in the area where the skinks live. Mice are small enough to enter the small holes and burrows where the skinks live and eat them alive.

This operation, in Victoria Forest Park, will protect the only known population of the Alborn skink, which is at high risk of extinction. It’s classified as Threatened - Nationally Critical with the population estimated to be 30 individuals.

DOC Operations Manager Chris Hickford says that the 10-hectare pest control operation is an interim measure to protect the skinks, until a predator proof fence can be built.

“We are working with the New Zealand Nature Fund (NZNF) to raise funds to build a predator proof fence for the skinks. Once we can enclose an area, and remove any predators inside it, we’ll be able to protect the skinks without needing to use toxins.

“The pest control operation will utilise the toxin brodifacoum, placed in bait stations. Brodifacoum is the most effective toxin to control mice and is less likely to lead to bait shyness than other toxins.”

Because brodifacoum persists in the environment, an area around the operation will become a “caution zone” for three years due to the risk of game animals consuming sub-lethal amounts of the toxin, which could then enter the food chain. There is a five-kilometre radius zone for pigs, and two-kilometre radius for deer.

Hickford says, “We have designed the operation to minimise this risk as much as is practical. We have evidence that pig and deer numbers are very low in the treatment area and will monitor for interactions with the bait stations throughout the operation.”

You can donate to this project to build a fence for the Alborn skink through DOC’s partner, New Zealand Nature Fund (NZNF). NZNF is a charitable trust responsible for funds donated to this project. Visit NZNF to secure the future of the Alborn skink.

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact:

Jose Watson
Senior Communications Advisor
Western South Island
jwatson@doc.govt.nz 

Background information

More about the Alborn skink here Alborn skink

Find out where pesticides are being used on conservation land - Pesticide summaries: Animal pests