Three independent pre-conference workshops are running on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 February. Please contact the respective facilitators for additional details.

Improving success rates for tropical island rat eradications

Saturday 7th February, 8am – 1pm

Location: Owen G Glenn Building, University of Auckland
Capacity: 50
Facilitator: Island Conservation (richard.griffiths@islandconservation.org)

This workshop will be focused on identifying and evaluating cost effective measures that can augment existing best practice for rodent eradication on tropical islands to improve success rates. While a synopsis of past eradication attempts will be provided along with a summary of the most likely reasons for past failures, the focus of discussion will be forward looking.

Challenges in improving mouse eradication success rates

Sunday 8th February, 8am – 5pm

Location: Owen G Glenn Building, University of Auckland
Capacity: 50
Facilitator: Mouse-Free Marion (keith.springer@birdlife.org.za)

This workshop will consider issues around rodent eradication failures, especially for house mice. The discussion will focus on what factors to address that can help to improve success rates. A synopsis of past eradication attempts will be provided along with a summary of the most likely reasons for past failures, using these to discuss what variables can modified in eradication planning for future mouse eradications.

Getting to the root of the problem in pig eradication practice

Sunday 8th February, 8am – 1pm

Location: Owen G Glenn Building, University of Auckland
Capacity: 30
Facilitator: Island Conservation (richard.griffiths@islandconservation.org)

This workshop will be focused on identifying the most resource and labour efficient measures for removing pigs from increasingly large islands. Two scenarios will be under consideration, the first being islands where pigs are predominantly solitary and the second where pigs move in groups. The most promising new technologies for pig detection and removal with an eye on scaling up will also be evaluated during the workshop. The workshop may be a precursor to the development of best practice guidelines for pig eradication.