For the first time, eggs from the critically endangered kākāriki karaka/orange-fronted parakeet have been retrieved from a Nelson predator free sanctuary and flown to Christchurch for hatching.
Department of Conservation kākāriki karaka recovery programme lead Wayne Beggs says it's a milestone moment in the battle to increase the numbers of our rarest parakeet.
"The species would probably have gone extinct if wasn't for organisations like The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust and the wonderful team at the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary. It's such an intensive team effort for these manu," he says.
The recent egg retrieval was an incredibly delicate operation. High up a tree inside the sanctuary, a Department of Conservation ranger carefully extracted eggs one at a time, from a nest cavity with a small scoop on the end of a pole.
The eggs were then placed in a pouch, lowered down via a rope, put into a special padded case and then quickly transported to catch a flight to Christchurch. The eggs were placed under surrogate parent birds at The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust to hopefully hatch.
Chief Executive of the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary, Chris McCormack says the first egg retrieval took a huge effort from monitoring where the kākāriki karaka nests were, to co-ordinating the operation to get the eggs safely to Christchurch.
"It was a very special moment that made us all very proud. Since their translocation here in 2021, we've seen remarkable growth in the population, we now have between 200 and 300 thriving manu. Thanks to an incredible group of staff and volunteers, we now support one of the largest populations of kākāriki karaka," he says.
The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust CEO Rob Kinney says the success of the programme reflects the strength of collaboration across multiple organisations.
"The recovery of kākāriki karaka is a great example of what can be achieved when organisations work together with a shared purpose. ICWT is proud to support the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary financially and to work alongside DOC as a national conservation partner. These kinds of collaborative partnerships are critical if we are going to see species like kākāriki karaka recover and thrive in the wild," he says.
Wayne Beggs says the two wild populations in the Hawdon Valley near Arthurs Pass and in the Hurunui South Branch can fluctuate wildly, peaking in 2020 and 2021 at around 300 before plummeting due to the impact of predators. Current estimates have between 50 and 60 birds in each valley.
DOC, along with its recovery programme partners, have just transferred 22 birds from The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust and Orana Wildlife Park to the South Branch in North Canterbury.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kākāriki Karaka Species Representative Yvette Couch-Lewis says it's fantastic the population at the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary is at the point where it can 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."
Wayne Beggs says implementing additional predator control measures, and new innovative technology in trapping and in monitoring, will help grow the population of wild kākāriki karaka.
"We did a large predator control operation last December to get the rat numbers down in the North Canterbury sites and we also now have predator traps which self-set and we monitor. We are still in the process of investigating new predator free sanctuaries and islands where we can establish new populations, so we can safeguard the species if the mainland populations have another serious decline.
"With this species, you literally cannot put all your eggs in one basket. We're not out of the woods, but with so many people doing the naturing alongside us, we're making real progress."
Orange-fronted parakeet/kakariki karaka: New Zealand native land birds
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