Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
Driving innovation in New Zealand's management of terrestrial biodiversity and land resources.
High Country Bovine Tuberculosis (Tb) research
Scientists from Landcare Research have made discoveries that could have big impacts on management of high country lands both in the Northern South Island High Country and further afield.
By studying where the vector species of bovine tuberculosis – possums, ferrets and wild pigs – lived as well as their movements between catchments and interactions amongst each other, the team established that a pest control strategy targeting specific habitats and a narrow range of altitudes containing the highest densities of possums and ferrets would be successful.
That means large high country properties would not have to undergo broad–scale, extensive control operations
More: Discovery, Issue 18 »
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Our fUTURE
OurFuture is an interactive website which brings together projects and activities that benefit New Zealand's natural environment and resources. OurFuture is aimed at making connections between research and action and between people and projects. Visit website www.OurFuture.net.nz Follow Landcare Research
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Sharing stories about New Zealand sustainability initiatives and environmental research.
Science in Focus - Wildlife Ecology and Epidemiology
The Wildlife Ecology & Epidemiology Team comprises 25 staff with expertise in animal pest ecology, modelling, epidemiology, and control strategies. Our work on pests and diseases include, marsupials (possums and wallabies), mustelids (stoats and ferrets), rodents (rats and mice), ungulates (deer, pigs and thar), birds (starlings and mynas), lagomorphs (rabbits and hares), and diseases as problems (bovine tuberculosis and avian malaria) and as biocontrols (rabbit haemorrhagic disease).
Work focuses on protecting native ecosystems and primary industry through improved understanding of pest responses to management, and the role of pests as disease carriers. This understanding is then used to develop better pest management regimes.
Research has been undertaken for central government (e.g. Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, Department of Conservation), local government (e.g. Southland Regional Council, Environment Canterbury), national agencies (e.g. Animal Health Board, Foundation for Arable Research), international agencies (e.g. United Nations Development Programme, British Ecological Society, The Nature Conservancy), government agencies (Chile, Argentina, New Caledonia, Mauritius), and private companies and conservation initiatives.
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