Source: Radio New Zealand
Sean McGrath / Department of Conservation
Eggs from the country’s rarest parakeet, the kākāriki karaka, have been retrieved from a nest inside a Nelson sanctuary and flown to Christchurch in a bid to help the species recover.
More than 100 kākāriki karaka, or orange-fronted parakeet, were translocated into Nelson’s Brook Waimārama Sanctuary between 2021 and 2023, and their numbers have since doubled.
The kākāriki karaka is critically endangered and its estimated there are up to 450 birds left in the wild. There are two remaining wild populations in alpine beech forest valleys in Canterbury, the Hawdon and Hurunui South Branch.
Department of Conservation (DOC) and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu lead the recovery programme which is focused on monitoring and protecting the sites where kākāriki karaka are found, breeding birds in captivity to release into the wild, research, and finding safe new sites where the species can be introduced.
DOC kākāriki karaka recovery programme lead Wayne Beggs said the number of birds in the wild populations fluctuated wildly, peaking in 2020 and 2021 at around 300 birds before plummeting due to the impact of predators. Current estimates have between 50 and 60 birds in each valley.
DOC biodiversity ranger Megan Farley has been working with kākāriki karaka for 16 years and said harvesting their eggs was “incredibly challenging”.
The birds nest inside tree cavities and sanctuary volunteers had identified 12 nests for rangers to check, but only one nest was suitable to harvest eggs from.
Sean McGrath / Department of Conservation
In February, Farley carefully extracted five eggs from the nest cavity, one at a time, with a small scoop on the end of a pole. They were placed in a pouch, lowered down via a rope, put into a special padded case and flown to Christchurch, where they were taken to The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust centre.
Three of the eggs had since hatched under the care of a surrogate bird, an older infertile female who had raised most of the harvested eggs over the last few years.
She said it was the first time eggs had been taken from the sanctuary, as it was a relatively new population, and it had genetics that weren’t found anywhere else.
Farley said without harvesting eggs, the kākāriki karaka would be extinct.
“The purpose of the egg translocation is to keep the genetics flowing through the captive population and keeping all of our sites genetically viable because if that genetic transfer doesn’t happen, they start having more issues, like more infertility, as an example.”
The birds from the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary will remain in Christchurch and become breeding birds, with their offspring used to bolster the existing populations.
Brook Waimārama Sanctuary chief executive Chris McCormack said since the birds were first introduced into the sanctuary, they had seen remarkable growth in the population and a lot of work had gone in from staff and volunteers to ensure the first egg retrieval was a success.
Sean McGrath / Department of Conservation
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu kākāriki karaka Species Representative Yvette Couch-Lewis said it was fantastic the population at the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary was at the point it could support the genetic diversity of the wild populations.
“While Ngāi Tahu fully supports the need for this mahi currently, it is our aspiration that one day the wild populations of these manu can grow to the point that there will be less need for these kinds of interventions.”
The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust CEO Rob Kinney said the recovery of kākāriki karaka was a great example of what can be achieved when organisations work together with a shared purpose
“These kinds of collaborative partnerships are critical if we are going to see species like kākāriki karaka recover and thrive in the wild.”
As part of the recovery programme, 22 kākāriki karaka had recently been transferred from The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust and Orana Wildlife Park to the South Branch in North Canterbury.
DOC is still in the process of investigating new predator free sanctuaries and islands where new populations could be established, in order to safeguard the species if the mainland populations have another serious decline.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
