Auckland Council Biosecurity pest detection team
You may have seen more of Auckland Council biosecurity advisors, pest detection dog teams at the Sandspit Wharf recently. The dog teams are looking for rats, mice, Argentine ants, and plague skinks. They are also on the ‘sniff’ out for Kauri dieback disease, which can be transported in infected soil and pest plants. We cover many commercial sailings heading to the Hauraki Gulf islands, particularly Aotea/Great Barrier Island, Rakino, Waiheke and privately owned islands.
You’d be surprised how little stowaways manage to hitch a ride in personal effects, gardening and building supplies to mistakenly get to some of these islands.
Rosie’s specialty is searching bags, vehicles, small buildings, building and landscaping supplies at the wharves or at the depot prior to loading. We encourage people to ensure their gear is cleaned, checked, and closed. This is particularly important with supermarket bags and banana boxes where best practice is to have these sealed (holes covered/bags zipped closed) once packed and checked for no stowaways, then kept off the ground.
Potting mix and pot plants should be soaked prior to movement, if possible. This allows any skink eggs to be bought to the surface and discarded or to show presence of ants and therefore able to be destroyed and not mistakenly moved to the islands.
Rochelle Prosser and K9 Rosie, working together to protect Kawau Island.
Dogs are used for inspections as they are thorough, quick and a less invasive way to check risk goods. It’s a small amount of time to support the goal of a pest free Kawau Island and one of the best ways to achieve this is to help inform those who enjoy spending time on island, in how to look for such pests. Biosecurity checks prior to movement of goods to the islands are a cost- effective approach to manage the introduction of pests and gives us all peace of mind for Kawau Island’s future.
We can all take part in ensuring our taonga are protected and kept safe by simply having a higher awareness of what is travelling to or near the islands. Some of the biggest concerns are kauri dieback disease (prevalent on the mainland and decimates our forest giants), predatory mammals such as stoats, rats and mice, Plague (Rainbow) skinks (which compete with our native species and are very difficult to eradicate if they establish in an area) and Argentine ants (which are aggressive and prolific breeders with a ferocious appetite for native insects and lizards). Some of these pests are swimmers, so even if you are not going to an island, please keep an eye out and let’s all be ambassadors for what is unique and special about our country. Rosie and I are privileged to play our part.