Originally Posted by
ebf
MH, continued aerial poisoning is not really how the sanctuary model works.
They tend to do initial aerial drops to eradicate pest species within a fenced off area, and then go into a "maintenance mode" where the emphasis is more on tracking tunnels, regular sweeps with mustelid detection dogs and monitoring of the bird population to identify any incursions. Obviously a lot of work on the sidelines to maintain and check fences etc.
Some of the older sanctuaries (Karori) had fences where the mesh design allowed juvenile mice to enter. In those sanctuaries there is a yearly ground based bait operation (Brodifacoum ?) to deal with mice.
I am not aware of any of the fenced sanctuaries that continue with aerial poisoning once the initial pest knock-down is done.
The expanding bird population at places like Zealandia, Pukaha, Maungatauteri and Orokonui is well documented.