Bird conservation in New Zealand
An essential part of the New Zealand experience is hearing its beautiful and unique birdsong. But the source of this melodious sound must be protected, with 73 of New Zealand’s native bird species on the World Conservation Union’s 'red list' of species threatened with extinction.
Since the arrival of man 1000 years ago, two thirds of New Zealand’s native forest has been wiped out and converted to grasslands, and today’s cities.
That loss of natural habitat, and hunting by early settlers, extinguished entire species of endemic birds - an astounding third of the land-based birds, like the moa, giant Haast’s eagle, piopio and huia - and left others floundering.
It is now the goal of groups like the government’s Department of Conservation (DOC) and the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, to conserve the remaining natural habitats and ecosystems and save the birds and animals that live there.
New Zealand is a world leader in bringing species back from the brink of extinction - like the takahe, which 'disappeared' for 50 years until small numbers were rediscovered in the mountains of Fiordland in 1948.
The DOC has developed recovery plans for many threatened species. New Zealand’s rarest bird is the fairy tern, with only 36 remaining - they are protected on sandy beaches an hour north of Auckland.
DOC intervenes with different species to ensure their survival. Birds like the saddleback and the flightless parrot kakapo (only 86 left in the world), are transferred to offshore island sanctuaries to build up new populations, protected from predatory mammals like possums, stoats, wild cats, rats and deer.
The recovery of the Chatham Island black robin is a world-renowned success story. In 1980 there were five birds remaining - today, after moving the only breeding pair to a pest-free island, there are 250 robins in existence.
Other endangered species, like the kaki (black stilt) and takahe, are reared in captivity then released into a managed environment.
Even New Zealand’s icon, the kiwi, is in danger - in the 1990s the population was dropping by five percent a year. DOC and the Bank of New Zealand launched a Kiwi Recovery Trust in 2002 to help protect kiwi throughout the country.
Tourism operators around New Zealand are also undertaking conservation measures to help preserve our bird population.
More than 30 percent of New Zealand’s land has been set aside in national parks, reserves and special heritage sites to preserve the country’s ecological heritage.
Lodges, like Awaroa Lodge in Abel Tasman National Park at the top of the South Island and Tangiaro Kiwi Retreat in the Coromandel, are heavily involved in environmental programmes to eradicate unwanted pests and enhance wetlands. At Tangiaro, DOC monitor kiwi on the property, and at night the bird’s high-pitched whistle can be heard.
Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua hatches and nurtures kiwi before releasing them into the wild, and opens its doors to the public to see this nocturnal wonder of nature.
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, in Christchurch, works with the New Zealand Conservation Trust and the Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand to run a kiwi breeding programme. The wildlife park has also introduced the Buff weka, which was extinct on the mainland but was successfully breeding on the pest-free Chatham Islands.
In Dunedin, the hoiho, or endangered yellow-eyed penguin, is the focus of a number of conservation efforts. Penguin Place is a private conservation reserve, funded entirely through the profits from its tour operation. It offers visitors the chance to experience undisturbed penguin activity through a system of covered tunnels where the hoiho live.
Elm Wildlife Tours take visitors to a private conservation area along the Otago Peninsula to see yellow-eyed and blue penguins and 40 marine bird species. They also fund a conservation project to help boost the population of hoiho.
On the South Island’s west coast, Ken Arnold of White Heron Sanctuary Tours not only takes people to see the majestic white heron (or kotuku), but is very active in preserving the bird’s habitat. Ken maintains pest traps and keeps records on the breeding success of the birds.
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