Traps set on Kapiti Island--a native bird sanctuary off the coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The traps are set to capture stoats (Mustela erm

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Traps set on Kapiti Island--a native bird sanctuary off the coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The traps are set to capture stoats (Mustela erminea)--an invasive species introduced to New Zealand to control rabbits and hares, other invasive species that were introduced for food and hunting by European settlers. (An old trap is shown on the left and a new version on the right.) The stoats began decimating the native bird populations and now are trapped in great numbers all over the country. Kapiti Island is one of the few places from which they've been eradicated, but traps are continuously set to capture any new arrivals.

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Photo credit: © Gerry Bishop / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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Keywords: bird, coast, eradication, erminea, european, hares, introduced, invasive, island, kapiti, mustela, native, north, poison, rabbits, sanctuary, settlers, species, stoat, traps, zealand