A team of sniffer dogs will be brought onto a predator-free island in the Hauraki Gulf after a stoat sighting.
Stoat Photo: 123RF
A member of the public reported seeing the mustelid on Motuihe Island last Sunday, just two weeks after a stoat was trapped and killed on nearby Motutapu Island.
Department of Conservation spokesperson Keith Gell said the person saw a stoat running across a track and DoC staff immediately began trying to find it.
"We're confident that following the interview with the member of the public it's likely that it is a stoat and we're just doing our due diligence with all our traplines on the island to rebait everything to something that might be of a better appetite for that particular stoat," he said.
Gell said all of the traps on the island have been baited with a combination of fresh rabbit meat and eggs.
Two eggs had disappeared from a trap, he said.
"They're attracted to eggs, stoats, so that has sort of given us a clue."
Mr Gell said it was possible the stoat swam to the island from Auckland.