Source: Radio New Zealand
About 100 critically-endangered Mahoenui giant weta have been released into the Rotokare Sanctuary in Taranaki this week as part of efforts to preserve the taonga species. Supplied / Adrian Cleary
About 100 critically endangered Mahoenui giant wētā have been released into the Rotokare Sanctuary in Taranaki this week as part of efforts to preserve the taonga species.
Despite being one of the world’s largest insects – females weigh in at about 25 grams and are about the size of a mouse – the “gentle giants” are vulnerable to mammalian predators.
First discovered during the 1960s in remnant tawa forest at Mahoenui in the King Country – from which it takes its name – the ingenious wētā was later found taking refuge in gorse.
Department of Conservation (DOC) Mahoenui giant wētā technical advisory group leader, Amanda Haigh, said the wētā had come up with a cunning plan to defeat their predators.
“What was an accident of a piece of hill country that had some goats in it, some gorse left to go wild, these wētā moved in and because gorse was so dense and they could hide in it and it meant the rats and the mice couldn’t climb in and eat them. It created this little haven for them.”
DOC’s Amanda Haigh walks a weta into the release point. RNZ / Robin Martin
But unfortunately that plan had come unstuck.
“What has been happening in about the last 10 years is we’ve had a massive decline in the population and the habitat is changing and the predators are starting to take hold, so what we’ve been doing is starting to do translocations to get new populations established in other places and spread the risk.”
Landcare Reseach Manaaki Whenua scientist and Mahoenui giant wētā expert Corrine Watts said there was no denying the insects were large, but that wasn’t all that was special about them.
Mahoenui expert Corinne Watts was the only person to handle the larger weta during their release. Supplied / Adrian Cleary
“Females are about the size of a mouse. They range between 20 and 25 grams. The males are smaller, maybe 18-20 grams.
“But what’s really amazing about the Mahoenui giant wētā compared to other giant wētā that we have in New Zealand is they have two colour morphs, so you can get a very dark brown colour morph and almost like a speckled yellow colour and that’s quite different among giant wētā.”
Efforts to translocate Mahoenui giant wētā had proven difficult and populations have only survived in predator-free environments similar to Rotokare at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, Mahurangi Island off the Coromandel and on private land at Warrenheip, near Cambridge.
Mahoenui giant weta expert Corinne Watts was the designated weta handler at the release. RNZ / Robin Martin
Watts was the designated handler for the four larger wētā released at Rotokare.
She had no qualms about handling the wētā which were almost the size of her hand.
“The feel cold and so quite often they’ll sit on your hand to gain warmth from your hand because they’re cold-blooded, so they feel cold.
“And they are not going to try and jump too much because something that big could really hurt themselves, so I just think of them as gentle giants really.”
Watts said she’d never been bitten by a giant wētā.
Conservation manager at Rotokare Fiona Gordon said the translocation had been years in the planning.
“When we first started the conversation there were so few individuals in the Waikato reserve itself that a wild to wild translocation didn’t really seem feasible and has now been made possible thanks to the captive breeding programme at the Otorohanga Kiwi House, so we’re immensely grateful for their support and the work that’s gone into preparing those individuals that are able to be here today.”
Rotokare Senic Sanctuary conservation manager Fiona Gordon. RNZ / Robin Martin
Gordon said the majority of the wētā being released were three-quarters of the way to be adults.
“A couple of them are a little bit bigger, so they’ll be being released directly into trees and hopefully in years to come we’ll be encountering them across the forest but that won’t be for a few years.”
Otorohanga Kiwi House wētā keeper Danielle Lloyd had a soft spot for the creatures and it was a bittersweet moment to see them released.
“They all have their own little personality. I know they’re just insects to most people, but because I spend almost everyday with them I learn all of their little ticks and what makes them go and what makes them happy.
“They’re just awesome creatures. If you look at their little faces they’re actually quite cute. They do have spiky legs and they can look a bit scary, but if you actually give them a chance they’re great.”
Otorohanga Kiwi House weta handler, Danielle Lloyd explains how the juvenile weta would be release in bamboo tubes. RNZ / Robin Martin
Marina Rauputu – in whose gorse bushes the wētā were discovered in Waikato – accompanied Mōkau Ki Runga hapu members for the handover to Rotokare manuwhenua Ngāti Tupaia.
It was a full circle moment for her.
“It’s very special because I’m from Taranaki. I’m from Whakamara where my grandparents settled, so in a way it’s like a merging of not just the wētā but almost like two iwi coming together at this one spot at Rotokare and it’s like coming home for me.”
Marina Rauputu once owned the land where the giant weta were found thriving in gorse. RNZ / Robin Martin
Mahoenui giant wētā are tree-dwelling omnivores with a lifecycle of about two years. Females lay eggs in the ground at about 100 a time.
The Rotokare Scenic Sanctuary release was the first of many planned for the predator-fenced sanctuary with the aim of establishing a permanent Mahoenui giant wētā population.
Mahoenui giant wētā are tree-dwelling omnivores with a life cycle of about two years. Supplied / Adrian Cleary
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
