Project Janszoon has built two weka-exclosures to help assess the impact of weka protection on two species of endangered land snails found in the Abel Tasman National Park – Rhytida oconneri and Powelliphantya hochstetteri. Both species are carnivorous and nocturnal. Project Janszoon’s mark-recapture monitoring documented a steep decline in populations since the arrival of weka.
Two sanctuaries (also called WekEx) were built as a proof of concept. If they are shown to be effective in enhancing the recovery of snail numbers, the enclosures can be enlarged to achieve an ecologically meaningful size. The report below outlines the fence design and construction and lessons learned.
