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Weasel which got into Wellington's Zealandia trapped

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 12 Oct 2018, 4:50PM
The weasel caught at Zealandia. Photo / Zealandia
The weasel caught at Zealandia. Photo / Zealandia

Weasel which got into Wellington's Zealandia trapped

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 12 Oct 2018, 4:50PM

A weasel which found its way into Wellington wildlife sanctuary Zealandia has been caught.

The female weasel was found in a DOC200 trap today by a Zealandia ranger, at the southern end of the sanctuary where the animal was first detected.

The weasel's footprints were first discovered on October 1, launching a sanctuary-wide incursion response.

More than 100 traps were set in the urban wildlife sanctuary, baited with rabbit meat and eggs.

Camera traps were also set, capturing the weasel on video three times at the same location.

Conservation and research manager Dr Danielle Shanahan said she was delighted with the result.

"We've managed to detect and respond to this really quickly, dramatically reducing the risk to our wildlife."

However, she was quick to add that it's not all over yet.

"We'll continue to monitor things closely, keeping traps, camera traps and tracking tunnels out there until we're convinced that it was just the one animal."

It was still not clear how the weasel entered the sanctuary and staff would continue to thoroughly check the 8.6km predator fence.

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