Invasive pests such as rats, stoats and weasels, have a major adverse impact on the Hauraki Gulf and its islands, threatening the long-term survival of native flora and fauna. Current pest trapping is labour and time intensive, with no way of knowing if traps have been triggered, other than manually checking. This pilot involved innovative technology harnessing the power of the IoT (Internet of Things), to remotely monitor activity across three kinds of traps; lockable bait stations, philproof bait stations and DOC200 kill traps (see below).

In May 2019, a team comprising Thinxtra, DoC and Auckland Council representatives deployed the prototype sensor devices onto traps on Waiheke Island. The traps were installed in two different locations on a reserve to compare the activity between all three trap types. Project success would be determined by how the technology and trapping worked.

Data from the sensor devices was visually presented on a dashboard showing the status of traps. Additionally, the platform provided a near instantaneous alert when a kill trap had been triggered. The trapper, who then clears the triggered trap, reports back into the platform the species of the predator caught, its sex and whether it was an adult or juvenile. This data is then recorded, and detailed analysis can occur allowing the user to fine tune their trapping operation.

Key pilot findings were:

• Strong IOT network coverage allowed sensor devices to communicate back to the online platform.

• There was positive feedback on the platform being easy and intuitive to use.

• A range of improvements were identified to enhance the design of a commercially available solution.