The emergency evacuation of parrot chicks from a South Island forest has critics asking whether the birds will become permanent refugees from the mainland.
The Department of Conservation is breathing a sigh of relief after an intensive effort over summer resulted in 21 orange-fronted kakariki, or parakeet,chicks safely behind bars in a Christchurch aviary.
But conservation lobby group Forest and Bird questions whether the rescue, aimed at eventually establishing a population on predator-free Chalky Island, means the critically endangered birds will be permanently banished offshore.
"It's been a courageous effort by DoC but it does raise the question, is this another bird like the kakapo that we can't save on the mainland?" said spokesman Geoff Keey.
Conservation Minister Chris Carter has promised Operation Ark, a planned attack on predators possibly using aerial 1080, will be launched if a plague of rats sparked by heavy seeding of beech trees occurs again this year in the parakeets' North Canterbury stronghold.
Rats and stoats are blamed for a population crash of the bright green, budgie-sized birds over the past three years. Estimates of between 150 and 200 means they are now high on the endangered list.
DoC Canterbury scientist Andy Grant said the captive eight females and 13 males gave the birds "a chance for sure" after fears they could disappear altogether.
Captive breeding at Isaac Wildlife Reserve was insurance against extinction and preparation for Operation Ark to ensure their survival in the South Island was in full swing, he said.
Three chicks that died last week during relocation would be autopsied but it was likely they died from stress, he said.
"We're absolutely thrilled with the population we've got in captivity but if we get another rat plague then we really have to be on top of our game and that's what Operation Ark is all about," he said.
If the kakariki bred successfully at Isaac Wildlife Centre, a transfer to Chalky Island off Fiordland's coast could occur as early as this summer.
