Seasonal fluctuations of numbers, breeding, and food of kiore (Rattus exulans) on Lady Alice Island (Hen and Chickens group), with a consideration of kiore: tuatara(Sphenodon punctatus) relationships in New Zealand

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Abstract
Kiore were snap-trapped in five forest habitats on Lady Alice Island. Trapping was most successful from late autumn to early spring and in coastal scrub habitat Breeding extended over at least 6 months (November to April) during which females produced 2–3 litters each averaging five young. Although plant material was most abundant in rat stomachs (averaging 78% volumetrically), a wide range of animal foods was taken. Weevils, scarab beetles, moth larvae of the family Hepialidae, weta (Orthoptera), and down feathers of burrowing seabird chicks were the most frequently recovered. No tuatara remains were found in rat stomachs, but fragments of three skinks (Cyclodina and/or Leiolopisma spp.) were recorded. We postulate that in the absence of rats, tuatara densities will be highest on islands that have been partly cleared of forest. In the presence of kiore, tuatara are more likely to persist on islands with minimal modification of the original forest.