May 2022

The streets of North Dunedin are no longer safe for rats and possums. Less ratties in flatties North Dunedin is one of City Sanctuary’s predator free suburbs. Flats are backyard trapping to help protect native wildlife and provide a line of defence connecting trap networks in the Town Belt, Woodhaugh Gardens and the Botanic Garden.  […]

Our project area includes 8,349 hectares extending from North East Valley to South Dunedin, along to Brighton and up to Chain Hills. This includes: Three pilot suburbs (Caversham, Maori Hill and North Dunedin). Ten priority suburbs (Balmacewen, Dalmore, Glenleith, Helensburgh, Liberton, North East Valley, Normanby, Opoho, Pine Hill and Woodhaugh). Ten priority reserves (Botanic Garden, […]

We use a range of traps depending on the pest species being targeted and the location. The full list of traps we use and the species being targeted includes: BT 200 traps (mustelids including stoats, ferrets and weasels) Goodnature A24 self-resetting traps (rats, stoats) T-rex traps (rats) Trapinators (possums) Victors (rats) All traps meet National Animal […]

11 November 2021 The latest urban predator control equipment is now easily accessible to the public through a new ‘‘trap shop’’at the Dunedin iSite and Department of Conservation Visitor Centre in the Octagon. Operating under the umbrella of City Sanctuary, the trap shop offers information, traps, predator chew cards, and other equipment for dealing mainly […]

Maurice- Pine Hill Over the last few months the City Sanctuary trap catch records have had days of frantic action, we wanted to find out who was behind this backyard catch bonanza and what their secrets were to their successful trap catches! It turned out many of these catch reports were coming from one backyard! Was this a […]

We don’t currently have traps for sale but are developing a guide to backyard trapping that will include information about what traps to use and where to buy them. Check whether your local community group has traps to buy or borrow.

We aren’t targeting cats. However, you can protect native wildlife by keeping your cat inside from dusk until dawn when they’re most likely to be hunting. This will reduce their impact on wildlife, keep your cat safe, and mean you can make the most of cuddles on cold winter nights.

It is housed in a white plastic box with a red lever that allows you to easily set the spring-set trap. It is triggered when a possum interacts with the bite bar. Where to put your trap The Trapinator is designed to be tree mounted. However, you can also mount it on a post or […]

In order to reach our aim we are trialling what works and what doesn’t with regard to backyard trapping. Over the next couple of years we’re fully funding backyard traps to three pilot suburbs and once we find out the best approach to achieve city-wide backyard trapping, we’ll partly fund and support operations in ten […]

The Great Kererū Count is an annual citizen science project encouraging New Zealanders to count the kererū that are present (or not present) in their neighbourhoods. How to join Start counting kererū Photo by Tony Stoddard How to get involved Join the Great Kererū Count between the 18th and 27th of September. Report a kererū […]

2 March 2022 We’ve recently finished seasonal predator monitoring in the parks and reserves where we’re trapping. Seasonal monitoring is important because it shows us how effective the traps are and gives insight into local possum populations. Possums are monitored using wax-tags – plastic tags holding a hunk of wax. The tags are spaced at […]

City Sanctuary is supporting 1 in 10 households to protect native wildlife by hosting a trap in their backyard. Come along to the Maori Hill community trap library. Get a monitoring kit to see what predators are visiting your backyard, register for a free trap and meet the friendly City Sanctuary team. Please RSVP below […]

Already, Dunedin is uniquely suited to support thriving native bird populations with large areas of green space, including a town belt spanning more than 200 hectares. We’re encouraging people and communities to become guardians of 10 priority reserves. Dunedin City Council currently does predator control in reserves throughout the city but it will take a whole […]

30 September 2021 Written by Jenn Shulzitski  Since I was a little girl, the wilderness has always been my happy place, my play destination, and my spiritual centre. I loved hiking, biking, and exploring in nature, thanks to my forested home in Pennsylvania with bears, bobcat, bluejays, cardinals, native honeysuckle and rhododendron. I also give credit to my grandfather who showed me how […]