Half the kiwi chicks that die in the wild each year are killed by stoats, so Lincoln University's Centre for Wildlife Management has been working on finding a more effective system to reduce stoat numbers.
''They're a major threat to a lot of species. There has been a lot of takahe deaths in Fiordland due to stoats,'' centre postdoctoral fellow Dr Des Smith said.
Traditional traps could be set off by other pests and were then inactive until a trapper returned, sometimes weeks or months later.
''This allows the stoats to reinvade the area, but this fires at least 100 times - that's the advantage of it.
''It has the potential to significantly reduce the numbers of kiwi chicks lost each year in a much more cost-effective way than traditional trapping.''
The Stoat Spitfire works by firing a paste containing the toxin Papp on to the stoat as it passes through a tunnel. The device then resets.
Then the stoat grooms the paste from its fur and ingests the toxin. The device fitted into the trapping boxes at present used by the Department of Conservation and community groups. Papp is a toxin registered in 2011 following research by the centre, Doc and Connovation Ltd.
The Blue Mountains' silver beech forest, while not home to kiwi, was known for having a stoat problem so was an ideal place to trial the system, he said.
It had been shown to work in the laboratory.
Preliminary research would get under way this summer, with students monitoring stoat numbers in preparation for the traps going in about March.
The traps had been designed so as not to be set off by mice, because that would use up the toxin too quickly, but would be set off by rats. However, they were immune to the toxin.
Two field trials were needed for the Stoat Spitfire to be registered.
It was part of a larger programme ''Pest Control for the 21st Century'' funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
A ''generous donation'' from from the Gary Chisholm Family Trust would help ''fast track'' the project.
