Pest Free Banks Peninsula ranger Karla Franklin holding the final possum in Kaitorete Spit, after it was caught in a live capture trap on Friday. Photo: Supplied

The last known possum has been tracked and eliminated from a native bird and conservation area near Birdlings Flat in Canterbury.

Pest Free Banks Peninsula had spent two weeks trying to find the possum before it was trapped on Friday at Kaitorete Spit.

Through the use of information from landowners, possum scent dogs, 120 surveillance cameras and more than 200 chew cards, rangers managed to pinpoint the location of the final possum.

Tim Sjoberg.

Said PFBP senior team leader Tim Sjoberg: “We started with quite a wide net, and we got closer and closer and closer until we could track down where that last individual was.

“Then we were able to remove that possum with a live capture cage trap.”

Its surveillance cameras have not detected any activity since, leading to the organisation’s confidence it has eliminated the last possum in the area.

PFBP has been operating at 5500 had Kaitorete Spit since 2022 and has eliminated 19 possums in that time.

“The team’s over the moon and really now we're really focused on preventing reinvasion and having a surveillance network in place to ensure that if a reinvader does turn up, that we are able to detect and remove it in a quick fashion,” said Sjoberg.

He said possums have a big impact on biodiversity, eating native and restorational plants, as well as eggs and chicks of native birds.

“From a primary production point of view, they consume pasture and crops, which means there’s less food around for livestock.

“Then from a human perspective, they keep people awake at night, they leave their poos and scats everywhere, they can make enjoying the outdoors a lot more challenging.”

PFBP also eliminated ferrets at Kaitorete Spit in 2022 and is getting close to eliminating hedgehogs as well.

Sjoberg said the group has eliminated more than 1000 hedgehogs from the area over the past three years but has to wait until they come out of hibernation to trap the remainder. The organisation is currently targeting weasels and stoats and plan to target feral cats soon as well.

Their other concerted effort is an 8000ha area behind Akaroa, which it is trying to make possum free.