Surfdale Rat Operational Trial
May - September 2024
Your permission is needed for your property to be part of the Surfdale trial.
Following the successful Kennedy Point, Ostend, and Rocky Bay trials in 2022, and Oneroa in 2023, Surfdale will be the location for the next Rat trial. Insights gathered will be crucial in understanding what will be needed in different environments and habitats to achieve the goal of island-wide rat eradication. You can find more information about how the Surfdale Rat Trial will look further down this page.
If you are in the area, please help us by completing the form on this page.
If you have further questions before signing up please get in touch: info@tekorowaiowaiheke.org or leave us your contact details on the form below.
The team of friendly Engagement Coordinators will also be calling on houses in the area to answer any questions and provide hard copies of the forms if needed.
Agreement to participate in the Surfdale Rat Operational Trial
Please fill out the below form to give us information about your property and give permission to participate. If you are unsure about giving permission, please fill out what you can and we can get in touch.
If you prefer to print out the form or fill it out in pdf format on your computer, please click the button below and save the filled pdf to your computer and return it to us as hard copy or by email to info@tekorowaiowaiheke.org
Surfdale Rat Trial Information
Why a Surfdale trial?
Before rats can be removed from the whole island, it is necessary to test which tools and techniques will work best on all of Waiheke - in every environment and habitat.
In 2022, the Ostend trial used an intensive network of bait stations to successfully remove rats from industrial, commercial, and wetland areas - the first of its kind to eliminate rats from a highly urban environment.
In 2023 the Oneroa trial was conducted in an area of highly concentrated residential, hospitality, and holiday home properties. Although rats were reduced to low numbers quickly, a few were still being detected at the end of the original 4-month trial period. A trial extension was then conducted to catch the remaining rats using different scent lures and baits, this seemed to be successful with no rat directions in the last week of the trial extension.
The 2024 Surfdale trial will confirm that the methodologies used in the Oneroa trial, and the additional tools added to the trial extension toolbox, work in removing all rats
How will it look?
Following the effective use of bait stations in the Ostend and Oneroa trials - this will be the primary tool used during the Surfdale trial. Monitoring tools such as wax blocks, chew cards, and trail cameras will also be used to monitor rat abundance.
The trial area comprises 104ha of a complex, urbanised, residential suburb of Waiheke Island. The area is comparable to the 2023 Oneroa trial, being highly residential with a housing/building density of 6.9/ha (compared to 6.7/ha in Oneroa), as well as containing commercial and hospitality businesses, and steep and challenging bush terrain.
The bait stations will be deployed in a 25m x 25m spacing, which means over 650 households and businesses will be participating. The trial will run over a four-month winter (May-Sep) period, as during this time food sources for rats are depleted and rats are more likely to be attracted to bait stations.
It takes a village!
Community support for Waiheke’s mission to be a predator-free island has been critical to the success of the trials to date – from households hosting bait stations to the many volunteers and rat control groups that are keeping rat numbers down to help protect our wildlife until we can get to predator-free. We’re looking forward to working together with the Surfdale community to make the 2024 trial a success.
Key Questions to be answered by the Surfdale Operational Trial
The key things that the Surfdale trial will look to answer are:
Can bait stations be used to remove all rats from complex residential areas, supplemented by scent lures and a change in bait?
What detection systems will work in residential areas at low densities?
Gather further data on potential risk factors identified in the Oneroa trial - e.g. Waterways and Bamboo.
What tools will work in challenging terrain e.g. Gullies
Will all sectors of the community support the project?
Will we be able to acquire all necessary permits and consents?