Rare NZ birds seek comfort in retirement
23 Sep 2010
Two of the rarest birds in the world have announced their retirement and are moving house so they can spend their twilight years in the comfort of Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch.
On Friday (24 Sept), Hamilton and Guy, a pair of rare New Zealand takahe, will leave the Department of Conservation (DOC) Burwood Bush rearing unit in Southland and move to Willowbank where they will become ambassadors for takahe conservation.
The pair will take an Air New Zealand flight from Invercargill and receive a full Māori welcome when they arrive at their specially prepared new home at Willowbank, the only private wildlife park in the country where the public can view takahe.
Welcome and house warming
The two famous rare birds will be accompanied from their breeding area in Southland by Te Runanga o Oraka Aparima and their DOC carers and welcomed to the Reserve by local runanga (council) Te Runanga o Te Ngai Tuahuriri.
The Hon Kate Wilkinson, Minister of Conservation will perform house warming duties - opening the new display and enclosure which has been purpose built for the takahe.
Guy and Hamilton will be released into their specially designed and planted area, which closely resembles their natural habitat, by Nick Ackroyd, Head of the Native New Zealand Area at Willowbank.
Story boards in the new enclosure will tell the tale of takahe - a bird that was once thought extinct and then discovered again.
Guy and Hamilton will conduct an open home policy at Willowbank - allowing the public to freely view their living quarters and lifestyle.
Plight of the takahe
Takahe were rediscovered in the Murchison Mountains of Fiordland in 1948 and although the population fell to just over 100 birds in the 1980s an intensive captive breeding programme at Burwood Bush has helped increase the population to about 230 adult birds plus juveniles.
At the breeding unit chicks are hatched and hand reared using puppets before being fostered to adult takahe who teach them essential feeding skills. These feeding skills help them survive the sometimes harsh alpine conditions they encounter once released into Fiordland.
Phil Tisch, Department of Conservation Takahe Programme Manager says Hamilton and Guy have played an essential role in the programme.
"Hamilton is the Bear Grylls of the takahe world. He and Guy have taught survival skills to foster families of takahe chicks for over 10 years. They really have been our premier foster parents."
He says the couple is being retired from Burwood because, although they have still contributed as foster parents, they no longer produce chicks and their territory is needed for a breeding pair.
Willowbank is one of two sites from throughout New Zealand recently selected to receive takahe as part of the Department of Conservation takahe advocacy programme.
History of Hamilton and Guy
Hamilton was hatched at Burwood on 18th December 1992 from an egg collected from the Murchison Mountains.
Guy, a female, was hatched at Burwood in 15 November 1995. She first met Hamilton as a 12 week old chick and once the other ‘foster juveniles’ were removed she remained as Hamilton’s mate.
Guy and Hamilton’s first chick was hatched in 1997 and was named McKenzie. Since then they have produced a large number of chicks. Each season the first clutch of eggs was removed to the incubator, with the second clutch left with the birds to hatch.
Hamilton and Guy have fostered a family of up to six chicks every year since 1997. This year they will retain their foster family right up until the time they go into quarantine prior to the transfer to Willowbank.
More information:
Bird conservation in New Zealand
Iconic New Zealand birds
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| Hamilton and Guy's new home at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, Christchurch, where visitors can view the rare takahe way of life. |
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