Every year an army of introduced predators devours the eggs and chicks of some 26 million native New Zealand birds, as well as countless insects, amphibians, reptiles and plants.  We currently have more than 4000 natives on the threatened species list and many more vulnerable to predation – New Zealand’s catalogue of shame.

But in 2016, the nation decided enough was enough. Predator Free 2050 was born — an eviction order served on the three most voracious predators — rats, stoats and possums. It’s our most ambitious conservation effort ever and is to be enforced by hundreds of thousands of ordinary Kiwis.

Fight for the Wild takes viewers into the wild heart of Aotearoa and documents the desperate battle to protect it. It explores the notion of a Predator Free 2050 and asks whether this big, bold initiative is achievable and if so, how?

EPISODE 1 -  Loss
Tuesday 25th August 
In the first episode of Fight for the Wild, we discover the incredible and unique diversity of ancient Aotearoa and how, since the arrival of humans, so much has been lost. We meet the three introduced predators responsible for much of that loss – rats, possums and stoats - and find out about the carnage they continue to wreak on our native wildlife. In remote Fiordland we watch kiwi chicks falling victim to stoats and in a hidden valley in Canterbury we meet New Zealand’s rarest forest bird and the incredible efforts to bring it back from the brink.
Featuring:
Tāne Houston – Ngāti Tupaia - Community, we are all in this together
Chauncy Ardell – Taranaki Regional Council - Urban trapping, every little bit helps
Toby Shanley – Restoring mainland sea/shore bird populations

EPISODE 2 - Defiance
Tuesday 29th September 
New Zealander’s have drawn a line in the sand, announcing that Aotearoa will rid the nation of rats, stoats and possums by 2050. We’ve been successful on off-shore islands, but what will it take to extend this across the mainland?  We look at the strategy behind Predator Free 2050 and travel to a 12,000 hectare field research site in the Perth Valley,  South Westland where Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) are trialling techniques they intend to roll out right across the country. We also meet a dedicated community group protecting a pair of nesting Kea and discover the knife-edge our native birds must navigate every breeding season.
Featuring:
Te Aroha Hohaia – Te Tōpuni Kōkōrangi - vision and future for He Kawa Ora
Nick Jones – Rewild - technology in the fight
Fiona Gordon – Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust – Not on our watch

EPISODE 3 – Battle
Tuesday 20th October 
While bird song is receding across New Zealand’s mainland, hundreds of community-led projects are leading the charge to turn things around. On the North Island’s East Cape the government answers the call from iwi for help to save the decimated Raukumara Forest and in Wellington a dedicated group of urban trappers are taking on Miramar Peninsular with the vision of achieving  the world’s first predator free capital city. Kea numbers continue to decline in the South Island and in the Perth Valley, Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) make some break-throughs in their quest to remove predators and protect borders from reinvasion.
Featuring:
Nick Heslop - Taranaki Regional Council - Kaitake Possum eradication
Hemi Sudgren/Sean Zieltjes - Taranaki Mounga Ltd – tools of the trade
Sian Potier - Taranaki Kiwi Trust - Dogs in Conservation the canine weapon

EPISODE 4 - Hope
Tuesday 17th November
In the final episode of Fight for the Wild, we travel to predator free Hauturu-o-Toi / Little Barrier Island to see what the vision of a predator-free Aotearoa could look like. We discover breakthrough technologies and innovations taking us towards that goal, then join an Operation Nest Egg mission to save vulnerable kiwi chicks.  In Taranaki we see how the partnership between community and iwi is restoring Kiwi to the slopes of Mt Taranaki and meet a younger generation taking up the challenge. Could Aotearoa’s `moon shot mission’ one day become a reality?
Featuring:
Miranda Wells - 800 Trust – Hark technology
Anne Maree McKay - Tiaki Te Mauri o Parininihi – Kōkako return to Taranaki
Nicola Ngarewa – Toi Foundation - Funding the cause