Poison-laden drones to patrol New Zealand wilderness on the hunt for invasive pests

Skies above remote parts of the nation's back country will host new technology designed to drop baits in the path of rats, stoats and possums

A large rat scampers across a shady forest floor in search of its latest meal of Kiwi chicks, one of New Zealand's endangered native birds. But the rodent is in the sights of another predator - a mammoth drone carrying hundreds of kilograms of deadly poison.

This scene could soon be playing out across New Zealand's most rugged wilderness as the Department of Conservation (DoC) considers a new high-tech strategy to halt the country's biodiversity crisis.