- Funding will go towards the continuation of SOKK’s trapping programme in the Kaweka Forest Park – covering the cost of baits and lure for the network of over 1400 traps including DOC200s, DOC250s, AT220 Autotraps and Trapinators.
- SOKK’s trapping programme exists to support its kiwi recovery work. Running an extensive pest trapping network in the Kaweka Forest Park helps to ensure kiwi (and other native flora and fauna) have a better chance of thriving in the wild. In 2002, it was estimated that a remnant population of 200 eastern brown kiwi remained in the Kaweka Ranges. Chick mortality due to predation by stoats, ferrets and dogs is extremely high with just one out of every 20 kiwi making it to adulthood. Nationwide, kiwi numbers have been declining at a rate of about 2% per year and the Kaweka population, without active management, could be extinct by 2050.
