Pest Control Technologies
Introduction
The Pest Control Technologies Team focuses on providing improved pest management through new and improved management strategies, tools and techniques - ranging from biological control to traps and toxins. The key pest targets are possums, rodents, stoats, ferrets and invertebrates (wasps, ants).
The team is comprised of 22 staff with expertise in wildlife pest ecology, impact assessment, trap design and testing, animal welfare, toxicology, bait development, immunology, virology, reproductive biology, modelling, and decision support systems. This expertise is complemented by research links with a range of international centres with similar interests (e.g. National Wildlife Research Center, USA; Central Science Laboratories, UK) and overseas universities (e.g. University of Vienna, University of Newcastle).
Research is undertaken for central government (e.g. Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, Department of Conservation, Biosecurity New Zealand), local government (e.g. Northland Regional Council, Horizons Regional Council), national agencies (e.g. Animal Health Board), international agencies (e.g. Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry, The Nature Conservancy), and private companies.
Research themes
- Biological control of possums
Primary contact: Janine Duckworth
Research is being conducted to develop biological control of possum fertility, which will provide possum management agencies with a wider range of control options. - Ecology and management of vertebrate pests
Primary contact: Phil Cowan
Effective management of invasive vertebrate pests in New Zealand (and internationally) requires an understanding of the pests' ecology, and development of effective strategies and tactics (tools) to control them. Landcare Research currently has three interrelated 4-year research programmes based around the control of vertebrate pests. All three programmes focus on possums, rodents and stoats as the highest priority pests. - Improved welfare in animal pest control
Primary contact: Penny Fisher
New pest control options that take into account animal welfare considerations and reduced non-target species risk. - Management of multiple species of pests
Primary contact: Bruce Warburton
Protection of critically threatened native animals and environments requires the control of multiple introduced animal pests. - New and improved baits, toxins, traps and delivery systems
Primary contact: Bruce Warburton
Vertebrate pest management is a critical component of many New Zealand conservation efforts and relies on the development of both new and improved baits and toxins.
Tools & Services
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Animal distribution maps
Animal distributions provides you with a view of the national distribution of 7 species of deer, 5 species of wallaby, thar, chamois, goat and pig. -
Animal facility
An accredited animal facility, operating under strict ethical guidelines, for captive breeding, observation, and the assessment of pest control tools. -
Animal pest monitoring & control
A comprehensive service providing advice on, and assessment of, the design and implementation of animal pest monitoring and control programmes. -
Animal population modelling
Landcare Research has internationally recognised expertise in providing spatial and population modelling for a range of species at a range of scales. -
Baits and toxins
A comprehensive service providing advice on new and improved baits and toxins, and testing. -
DENSITY
Mark–recapture estimation of population density, implementing methods for estimating absolute population density from closed–population samples. -
Mark–Recapture interface for programs CAPTURE and JOLLY
Allows the user to run data stored in an input file for the program MARK through programs CAPTURE and JOLLY. -
PestCalc
The pest control calculator – developed to make analysis of pest control monitoring data simpler and more accurate. -
Toxicology laboratory
An accredited laboratory providing vertebrate pesticide bait and residue analysis. -
Trap design and testing
Trap design and testing -
Wildlife population ecology
Advice on the design and implementation of large–scale ecological experiments, and statistical modelling of the resultant data.
Science leader
 | Phil Cowan Email  |
Landcare Research | |
Phone: 06 353 4800 |