first takahe chick on North Island mainland

Chlidonias

Chlidonias

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Takahe chick brings new hope of birds' survival | Stuff.co.nz
A shy, fluffy takahe chick is bringing new hope that the endangered species can be brought back from the brink of extinction.

The birth of the healthy chick – the first on the North Island mainland in hundreds of years – has thrilled staff at Maungatautari Ecological Island in Waikato.

"Everyone is ecstatic," ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy said. With the takahe population estimated at just 230, the birth took on special significance. "Especially because last year the population in Fiordland took a real hit after an explosion in stoats and rats."

The as-yet-unnamed chick was being secretive, hiding in dense vegetation, unlike its people-friendly parents.

It was born in December, but had only just started to venture out. New parents Matariki and Hauhunga were taking to their new role well. "They're being very attentive, bringing it lots of vegetation to eat."

Staff at the ecological island have had their hopes raised numerous times since 2006 when the pair first arrived. During that time six eggs had been laid but they failed to develop further, until now.

The public will be allowed to see the chick when it becomes a bit bolder.
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this article is all a bit wave-your-hands-in-the-air-and-sing-with-joy but it is quite exciting from a NZ perspective given that all other wild takahe are either in the original Fiordland area or on offshore islands. A couple of points regarding the article:
1) takahe Porphyrio hochstetteri were always only found on the South Island, the North Island species being the moho Porphyrio mantelli which was an even larger bird than the surviving species (until a few years ago they were treated as subspecies but they are in fact quite distinct), so the wording of the piece is slightly misleading.
2) an "ecological island" (or "mainland island") is a mainland area that is either encircled with predator-proof fencing to protect the area inside, or which is intensively trapped to keep the predator numbers as low as possible - the predators in question being introduced mammals like stoats and feral cats
 
That's really good news!

:p

Hix
 
Hi Chlidonias,

It may be sorta self-congratulatory, but I agree it is very important news for NZ/Kiwi bird fauna. Can you keep us up-to-date on on this as new developments crop up?

Re total population: Can you tell us how large and what the exact numbers are in the various locations (and hopefully mark out the overall trends for each)?

K.B.
 
the line in the article that reads "Especially because last year the population in Fiordland took a real hit after an explosion in stoats and rats" refers to the fact that the 2007-2008 season was a beech mast year (mass fruiting of the beech trees) resulting in a rat/mouse plague which in turn meant a mass increase in stoats, which in turn meant higher predation on takahe in Fiordland. The total takahe population had climbed to about 300 but about half the wild adult birds in Fiordland were killed off by the stoats.

There are now (I think) about 230 birds total, of which about 120 are wild in Fiordland and about 90 on the offshore islands (eg, Maud, Kapiti, Tiritiri Matangi). There are also some captive at the Burwood Bush breeding centre in Te Anau (Fiordland) and a pair at Mt. Bruce in the North Island, as well as the ones in Waikato's Maungatautari Ecological Island. I don't know the exact figures for the populations on specific islands or localities.

All the birds however are treated as one population so island birds, for example, are moved around as genetics dictates.
 
I visited Tiritiri Matangi last January and saw Greg, the famous and very pushy takahe. I hope the chick he had then survived! Kiwis (the human kind) have done fabulous things to establish islands as mammal-free preserves for native birds and tuatara. They also seems to know more about fencing animals out than anyone else. The fence around Kaori Sanctuary near Wellington is amazing. The North Island is largely deforested but the parks are wonderful. Go if you can.
 
Glad to hear the population is back up to the 2007 figures.

The real challenge now and into the future is the Predator Free 2050 Goal campaign and action program.
 
I wonder how Takahe would fare on any lowland wet pastureland, like cows, if the area is fenced against small carnivores?
 
Chlidonias said:
the North Island species being the moho Porphyrio mantelli which was an even larger bird than the surviving species
Click to expand...

Fun fact which many may not realise; this species, along with the North Island Brown Kiwi (Apteryx mantelli) is named for Walter Mantell, the son of the famed Gideon Mantell who (as the individual responsible for the discovery and description of Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus) was one of the key figures from the early days of dinosaurian paleontology.

This is also why a decent proportion of the original English material for Iguanodon (now redescribed under the names Therodon and Mantellodon, with the original name now restricted to continental fossils) is now located in New Zealand ;)
 
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