Wye Creek
Where climbing crags meet conservation tech — a new predator control frontier is taking shape high in the Remarkables.
Perched above Queenstown, the Wye Creek catchment is a biodiversity gem — rich in beech forest, alpine scrublands, native birds, skinks and the occasional kea. For over a decade, predator control here has kept pressure down on rats and stoats, thanks to DOC200s, Goodnature A24s, and the committed efforts of Queenstown Climbing Club and Southern Lakes Sanctuary.
Now, that work has taken a bold step into the future.
Innovation in predator control
Until recently, possum and feral cat control was limited due to the risk to kea. That changed in November 2024, when the team installed 20 AI-enabled AT520 traps, designed to target possums and rats while protecting kea and kākā. These smart traps combine the reliable trap mechanism of NZ Autotraps AT520 with FTP Solution’s Yarn Mesh network and integrated AI cameras that only activate when a target species is positively identified — a feature known as Species Selective Arming (SSA).
The results so far?
In just seven months, the network has removed:
61 possums
32 rats
53 mice
76 unspecified (likely rats or mice)
That’s 222 predators gone — without putting native birds at risk.
But the benefits go beyond the kill numbers. These smart traps also:
Track visits and activity, even without a catch
Send real-time images and alerts
Improve efficiency and responsiveness in tough, remote terrain
Enable data-driven decisions for expanding control
This is the future of conservation tech — unfolding right here in the Remarkables.
A thriving forest below
While the upper slopes are now protected by smart traps, the lower Wye Creek beech forest has already seen over a decade of consistent trapping. Today, these forests are home to healthy populations of riroriro (grey warbler), miromiro (tomtit), tauhou (silvereye), pīwakawaka (fantails), korimako (bellbird), and the occasional tūī.
What’s next?
Later in 2025, the team plans to roll out eight smart live-capture cat cages using the same remote tech to alert field crews the moment a trap is triggered. It will be a game-changer in understanding and managing feral cats in high alpine zones.
Collaboration makes it possible
This innovative network wouldn’t be here without the shared vision and support of Queenstown Climbing Club, Tūpiki Trust, DOC, Altitude Brewing, and our team at Southern Lakes Sanctuary. Together, we’re breaking new ground — protecting biodiversity in one of the most spectacular and ecologically important parts of the Whakatipu Basin.
📻 Want to dive deeper? Listen to SLS technical advisor Phil and project director Paul speak with Claire Concannon on RNZ’s Our Changing World about the Wye Creek smart trap project:
🎧 Listen now
Posted in: Projects