Tilde Sorensen and her dog Parker Photo: RNZ
Sniffing out the last stoats on Waiheke Island is all in a day's work for springer spaniel Parker and dog handler Tilde Sorensen.
Five boxes lay on the ground in front of Parker. Four were decoys and one held what he was supposed to find. All he had to do was sniff out the correct box and lie down with his nose pointing at it.
The springer spaniel's handler, Tilde Sorensen, was nervous. This test was part of a gruelling six-hour long exam she and Parker needed to pass in order to become certified by the Department of Conservation as a detection dog.
Parker's detection speciality was stoat poo, but each box held a different type of animal dropping that Parker might come across while on the job. "I had rabbit scat, cat, duck, chicken, I had some rat as well," says Sorenesen.
Sorensen had never owned a dog before. She works for Te Korowai o Waiheke / Predator Free Waiheke, a project aiming to eradicate rats and stoats from the already possum-free island.
Parker belongs to Auckland Council, but now lives fulltime on Waiheke Island with Sorensen. When the call was put out asking for someone to volunteer to be a dog handler, Sorensen put her hand up, despite her inexperience. Now Parker's part of her family.
The first certification test six months earlier was simpler. They just needed to prove that Parker listened to Sorensen's commands and that he wasn't aggressive.
The six-hour-long test in July, which they needed to pass to start working in the field, was a different kettle of fish. With the two of them under such close scrutiny, Sorensen's nerves rubbed off on the young dog.
Parker carefully sniffed around each box, but when he smelled what he thought was stoat poo, his training flew out the window. Instead of lying down at the right box, "he sort of paused by that box and looked at me," says Sorensen.
It wasn't ideal, but it was enough for them to squeak through. After proving he could work safely around livestock like sheep and chickens, and another test where he needed to find several different stoat scats in a paddock, they were given the news they had passed.
"It was such a relief," says Sorensen. "Parker and I went home and we both lay on the lawn for half an hour and had a bit of a relax and snuggle."
The testing agent gave Sorensen a long list of notes and ideas of things to work on. Her advice to Sorensen was that working in the field with Parker was really just the start of the training journey not the culmination, but for a few days after their success, Sorensen says she felt like she was floating.
When Parker is working he wears a vest and muzzle. Photo: RNZ
Waiheke's dwindling predators
Waiheke is a 35 minute ferry trip from downtown Auckland, but it feels like a world away. There are no traffic lights, multi-level carpark buildings, or shopping malls.
The rumble of motorway traffic is absent, replaced by the distinctive gear-box grinding screech of kākā.
In the five years since the Predator Free Waiheke project started, the kākā population on the island has quadrupled and the number of native birds has increased by 76 percent.
In October 2025, the island celebrated the birth of a kiwi chick in the wild, the first chick after 10 adult kiwi were translocated there.
Project director Jenny Holmes says the increase in native bird life on the island was fantastic.
"In a few years time, if we have kiwi out in the wild, there'll be huge ecotourism opportunities."
Bright red and green kākāriki parakeets have also been photographed on the island, as have bellbird / korimako. Holmes believes the positive signs happening now are just the beginning as long as the predator control work continues.
Achieving predator-free status on an inhabited island so close to Auckland would be a massive achievement, but the team feel it's an achievable goal.
A large map covered in dots adorns Predator Free Waiheke's office wall. Each dot represents one of the 1700 traps set around the island, one roughly every six hectares. Traps cover public and private land and are checked by staff, volunteers, and landowners. To date, trapping has removed 259 stoats and 15,816 rats from the island.
Stoats are an apex predator in New Zealand, first introduced to control rabbits. They're capable climbers and swimmers and attack nests and birds. The Department of Conservation describes them as the number-one killer of many endangered species.
The genetics of each stoat caught are analysed by stoat DNA specialist, Dr Andrew Veale. Each year he provides a map for the team, showing how many breeding female stoats are on the island and how many offspring from each litter were caught.
In the most recent year of trapping, the genetic clues identified six to seven breeding female stoats. The genetic work done by Veale also shows new stoats aren't swimming to the island from elsewhere. He estimates there's been no new stoats for 15 years.
"Most of the stoats that we're catching now, they're all like first cousins," says Holmes.
The hard work has meant Waiheke Island now has the lowest number of stoats of all predator projects.
Holmes says the fact the island is inhabited has helped, not hindered the work. She refers to it as having "9000 sets of eyes" on the job.
Locals are aware of the project through posters and educational work in schools. When they see a stoat, they phone in the sighting and location so the trapping team can swing into action.
"We send the dogs into those areas where the community has told us there's a stoat, and the dogs can help track actual running lines. We've had a lot of success with then placing the trap in the running line of the stoat."
The dogs Holmes is talking about are Wero, and handler Brad Windust, a contract dog handler and trapper, and Parker, the brand new addition to Predator Free Waiheke's fulltime workforce.
With stoat numbers so low, the accuracy a dog can provide in indicating exactly where stoats travel is invaluable.
"It can be a matter of moving the trap just three metres and we catch a stoat, and the trap has been there months and not caught anything."
The power of a happy dance
Being a dog handler has changed Sorensen. "You just have to let go of your ego a little bit," she says.
Part of training Parker involved finding the perfect reward to treat him with when he successfully showed her where poo is.
For some dogs, it's a toy they love playing with, for others it's a tasty treat.
"Parker really likes food, but actually what I'm finding is what he values most is just me being really happy with him. So if I jump up and down and make a big song and dance and give him a big pat, that's actually what he works for, which is ridiculously cute," says Sorensen.
It doesn't mean she can't pat him at other times - it just comes down to intensity. For finding stoat poo there's jumping up and down, a bit of a happy dance "and acting like an idiot".
But there's a problem. With stoat numbers so low, the opportunities for Parker to get his reward are diminishing.
"It's never very fun if you're doing a job and you never actually succeed," she says. "Often I'll just drop something as we walk along, and we'll go back and find it."
This means the contents of Sorensen's freezer might raise eyebrows. She keeps little bottles of stoat poo on hand, all tightly sealed to maintain their odour. Every couple of detection sessions she surreptitiously drops one, so he can find it, and be rewarded with the happy dance and pats ritual.
The continued training in the field is important. Detection dog certification involves a third test, a year after the second. It's a repeat of the gruelling six-hour test the pair completed in July. If they pass that then tests will be conducted every three years until Parker retires.
The future
There's more work for Parker to do, and with stoat numbers dropping, it's getting harder. Sorensen wonders whether the stoats left are wary of the traps which have been used for some time.
There's been work to place them differently along run lines using "interceptor fences".
"The idea is the stoat will be running along. It hits the fence, and then it either needs to move left or right from there, and there'll be a trap waiting for it," she says, calling them gamechangers.
An interceptor fence with stoat traps. Photo: RNZ
There's also hope that technology can help - new AI traps are being tested. These use a camera to identify the animal, and only trigger if it's a target species. They also automate the release of the killed predator so the trap can be used again. This is ideal for remote or rugged areas, where it's hard to regularly clear and rebait traps.
While there's enthusiasm about eradicating Waiheke's last few stoats, there's also concern. A significant portion of Predator Free Waiheke's funding came from Predator Free 2050. The company set up to help deliver the vision has been dissolved by the National-led coalition government, with its functions moved to the Department of Conservation.
An updated strategy for Predator Free 2050 is set to be revealed in March, which should indicate if future funding is available.
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