Takahe release step to recovery

 

The Tawharanui Regional Park, northeast of Warkworth, welcomed some new visitors last month with the release of ten takahe, the culmination of many years of dedicated effort from DOC, Auckland City Council, TOSSI (Tawharanui Open Sancuary Society), Mitre 10 Mega Warkworth and Mitre 10 Takahe Rescue.

Despite efforts, the national takahe population has remained virtually static for the past 60 years and the aided migration to select locations is, hopefully, going to bring about a boom from these initial five pairs which, it is hoped will begin a breeding cycle very soon.

Another group of ten is expected to be ‘imported’ in the next year.

In what was a long trip for both the birds and the DOC rangers, starting at 5am, these birds came all the way from Murchison Mountains in Fiordland, flying from Queenstown to Auckland.

Designated staff from Mitre 10 Mega Warkworth picked up the birds from Auckland Air-port and headed up to Tawharanui where, together with DOC staff, the 10 birds were greeted by 250 locals, excited at the prospect of a ‘bird’s eye’ view and to be a part of an historic event.

The birds were then taken into the care of hapu Ngati Manuhiri and were welcomed and blessed prior to their release.

Each one is tagged and will be monitored by radio regularly for the first month. This will give important informa-tion as to how the takahe are settling in to their new environment as well as supplying DOC staff and rangers with important data for future importations.

Peti, Dampier, Pleiades, Frana, Douglas, Minaret, Kiko, Tamahunga, Maaka and Joan are the 10 new takahe who have made Tawharanui their new home. They are the first to be released on the mainland in Auckland which marks a huge step for-ward for takahe recovery efforts.

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