Young researcher Alexandrea Whyte has been out in dense bush hunting for wētā and beetles, to see if they've been affected by 1080 poison drops in the area to control predators.
It's the fourth of a five year project, comparing areas that have had the drops compared to those that haven't in bush near the Rimutaka range north of Wellington.
Alexandrea signed up for this summer scholarship project at Victoria University and she and her supervisor Stephen Hartley join Lynn Freeman on The Weekend.
![Wellington tree weta [Hemideina crassidens]](https://media.rnztools.nz/rnz/image/upload/s--h7Hrc1tT--/c_scale,f_auto,q_auto,w_1050/v1643442964/4P2MTE1_copyright_image_57444)
Wellington tree weta [Hemideina crassidens] Photo: Supplied
