Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House (Closed) Canterbury mudfish relocation

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these articles are from 5 May (about a week ago).
Project aims to re-establish endangered mudfish | Stuff.co.nz
The endangered Canterbury mudfish has been thrown a lifeline.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) will this week release 90 young fish into part of Christchurch's Travis Wetland in the hope of establishing a new population.

Canterbury mudfish are counted as being nationally endangered because of the loss of 90 per cent of its habitat.

If the Travis Wetland project is successful, it could lead to releases in other areas to stabilise the species.

The young fish, or fingerlings, were captured five months ago and kept at the Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House, where they were allowed to grow big enough to survive in the wild. Eight were released into the wetland on Monday.

Sjaan Bowie, a freshwater ecologist for the Canterbury Conservancy, said the first group was doing well and the rest would be released tomorrow.

"Hopefully it will give us information to know what we need for successful transfers in the future. There will be a lot of management and monitoring associated with it," she said.

Zoologist Leanne O'Brien, who has been studying the Canterbury mudfish for more than 10 years, said the fish needed a habitat that was not prone to drying out and did not expose them to predation from eels.

"It's got to the stage where we just have to try different areas and secure areas that are largely protected," she said.

The project was carried out with help from the Travis Wetland Trust, Ngai Tahu and the Christchurch City Council.
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Saving the Canterbury Mudfish - 2010 - Christchurch City Council
Eighty to 90 young Canterbury Mudfish (Neochanna burrowsius) will be released into Travis Wetland tomorrow (Thursday) as part of a plan to save the endangered species.

Eighty to 90 young Canterbury Mudfish (Neochanna burrowsius) will be released into Travis Wetland tomorrow (Thursday) as part of a plan to save the endangered species.

Originally collected from an irrigation race near Hororata, the fry were raised at Southern Encounter Aquarium to a size ready for release this autumn.

Christchurch City Council Park Ranger John Skilton says they will be released in the western side of the park where there are fewer eels. Eels will be the biggest threat to their safety and will be captured and released away from the main mudfish site by rangers and Travis Wetland Trust members who monitor the site.

These mudfish are restricted to Canterbury, specifically the area from north Canterbury down the east coast to Waitaki River. They occupy weedy springs, drains and irrigation races but are endangered because their habitats are drying up. They have the ability to survive without water for up to five months by hiding in cool, damp places.

Christchurch City Council and Travis Wetland Trust have been working with the Department of Conservation since 2000 to secure the release into the wetland, which has an important role as a site for the protection and advocacy - regionally and nationally - of endangered native species.

Travis Wetland is a 119 ha freshwater wetland located in urban Christchurch and the focus of an ecological restoration project managed as a partnership between the Council and the Trust. During the past 12 years work has been carried out to develop waterways, remove willows, control predators and plant 60,000 native plants.
Canterbury Mudfish
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Initially eight individuals were sent out to Travis Wetland and held in a semi-submerged trap to ensure they survived overnight (really just making sure the water chemistry suited them), before the rest of the group was taken out there and released. The particular pool they were released into had the eels trapped out prior so they wouldn't be predated upon. As it says in the articles, eels are the main natural threat to them but they can survive alongside them so long as the eel population isn't too large and the mudfish population is well-established. Unfortunately stupid people also occasionally release exotic fish into the wetland (such as goldfish, rudd, etc) so the rangers need to keep on top of things.
 
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