News today that threatened North Island kokako have been discovered nesting in Auckland’s Waitakere Ranges for the first time in 80 years. The nesting birds are a male/female pair transferred to Ark in the Park just in September.
The biggest message here for me is that you don't need to rely just on expensive predator-proof fences to save these birds, or transfer them to p-est-free offshore islands. Ark in the Park relies on extensive and effective pest-control through bait-station trap-lines.
Fantastic news!!
Forest & Bird » Terrestrial
Kokako nesting in Ark in the Park
(5 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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And of course it goes without saying - a huge congrats to the volunteers and staff involved and who've done all that work so well....
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yeah well done to everyones hard work!! Years of it for some I'm sure.
Does Ark in the Park have an out of proportion, over population of Kahu (Harrier Hawks) like other parts of the North Island does due to the clearing of forests and if so are they trying to reduce their numbers so the Kokako, Kukupa etc can breed safely?Posted 1 year ago # -
None that I'm aware of. By chance I only today saw some footage of kahu creeping in on a kokako chick. I hadn't realised they were such a threat - sort of always thought of their predation as being in flight.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yes they are amazing hunters on the ground too! A good way I work out if there is an out of balance number of Kahu in a area is I put out two eggs on the ground. If they are gone in 30 minutes it is not good news!
Posted 1 year ago #
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