Nurse leaves hospital surgery behind to look after wildlife with her dogs

Karin Bos was a nurse at Christchurch Hospital for 20 years. Now she cares for some of the most precious wildlife on Banks Peninsula. Heidi Slade reports.

Kaitorete is one of the region’s hidden, natural gems.

The 25km spit runs south-west from near Birdlings Flat along the southern edge of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere.

Home to banded dotterel, ground-nesting birds such as oystercatchers and endangered native spiders like katipō, as well as skinks and two species of flightless moth, the area is also populated with pests such as hedgehogs, mustelids, possums and feral cats. 

Bos has been working for Pest Free Banks Peninsula for 20 months on various projects.

She is now based at Kaitorete as a dog handler for its conservation dog programme. 

‘‘I’m excited to be a part of such an enormous, amazing goal,’’ said Bos who lives in Little River.

Since December, she has worked with Mobab, a three-and-a-half-year-old border terrier trained to track hedgehogs. 

Recently the pair were joined by Terry, a 20-month-old welsh springer spaniel trained to track down feral cats. PFBP has been contributing to 

Predator Free New Zealand’s Pest Free 2050 initiative since 2020, when Government funding was committed for five years. 

PFBP operations manager Tim Sjoberg said funding after 2025 will depend on whether ‘‘we are valued by the community.”

‘‘We are hoping that Pest Free 2050 funding will continue to the next stage,’’ he said.

Kaitorete is one of two areas PFBP works in, Bos says. 

In Kaitorete, it aims to ‘‘get rid of  possums, cats, stoats, ferrets, weasels and hedgehogs.’’

In the other focus area – the extended wild side of Banks Peninsula – PFBP is working to get rid of all possums and drop mustelid and feral cat numbers to 20 per cent of what they were when the branch began. 

‘‘We are the only Predator Free 2050 project that is targeting that many species at once,’’ Sjoberg said.

After spending 20 years as a surgical and cardiology nurse at Christchurch Hospital, Bos said she decided to pursue her passion for conservation full-time.

She has found what she calls ‘‘the ultimate job.’’ 

Sjoberg said PFBP is ‘‘blessed’’ to have Bos.

‘‘Her strength is communication and being able to work under pressure,’’ which he says comes from her work as a nurse.

He also praises her ‘‘detailed and concise approach.’’ 

It helps Bos to get in touch with the dogs and understand their behaviours. 

Mabob and Terry live with Bos on her property, which she likes to call their ‘‘palace.’’ 

She said they benefit from living with their handler as it helps the dogs develop a much stronger bond with her. 

They are also expensive, highly-trained animals, so it is important to keep them safe. 

Sjoberg said ‘‘knowing the dog intimately so that the wag of a tail or scratch of an ear’’ indicates they are close to a pest is important. 

‘‘These are the little signs that Karin needs to pick up on and she’s so good at that.

‘‘I was just blown away with how much those dogs love Karin.’’ 

While no two days are the same, Bos will check the ‘‘remote reporting network’’ daily to see which of PFBPs numerous live capture traps have been set off, she said. 

After her and the dogs investigate, she then lets them sniff out other predators. ‘‘They are

detection dogs (and) they are pointing the animal out to me . . . I’m the one in charge of what’s happening to the animals’’ Bos said. 

Training the dogs takes 20 to 24 months and involves expert trainer Billy Barton from Hawea.

Barton specialises in training dogs for conservation purposes.

-By Heidi Slade