Kokako call soon to be heard at Mt Bruce

Ten kokako will be released in the Wairarapa next month.

The nearly flightless blue wattled crow has been decimated by stoats, cats and ferrets and it is all but gone from the New Zealand mainland.

Seven breeding pairs live on pest-free Kapiti Island and three breeding pairs in captivity at Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre in northern Wairarapa.

Five pairs from near Otorohanga would be released in Mt Bruce forest next month, said Karen Barlow, centre captive breeding programme manager.

"Free range" kokako are the next stage in Mt Bruce's expanding native bird programme.

The opening of a new education centre at Mt Bruce coincided with the release of four kaka into the adjoining forest.

The call of the kokako was the most beautiful sound in our native bush, Ms Barlow said.

Kokako had a huge repertoire of sounds, she said.

"When a pair has formed they duet together over a breeding season. It's very loud, it's very distinctive."

The birds climb high into tree-tops and glide down. They eat fruit, flowers, leaves, fern fronds and insects.

Department of Conservation Wairarapa area spokesman Mike Grace said a predator eradication programme in Mt Bruce forest would soon be completed.

Members of Rangitaane iwi had cut 130km of new tracks for intensive trapping work.

Fundraising efforts for pest control had gone very well, he said.

A scheme where people sponsored 1ha of pest control each had raised $18,000 in the past three weeks.



Meanwhile, Department of Conservation predator control experts Darren Peters and Ian McFadden have arrived at the department's Wairarapa office at Mt Bruce to train staff in killing stoats.

At issue is the survival of native birds in biological treasure troves such as the Mt Bruce forest.

"Birds like kokako and kiwi will not survive on the New Zealand mainland as long as stoats are present," Mr McFadden said.

Fenn traps set in tunnels with chicken wire at each end and baited with raw eggs were the best stoat-killing method, he said.

Tararua and Rimutaka Forest Parks were among areas rife with stoats.

But control worked only if stoats - and weasels, ferrets, feral cats and rats - were kept down to low numbers, he said.

Young stoats, could move up to 60km to stake out fresh territories. Mr McFadden said ongoing trapping was necessary.

Eric Pyle, of the Royal Native Forest and Bird Protection Society, said stoats were New Zealand's worst predator pest.

He said that at present stoat populations, kaka would be extinct from the mainland, except in sanctuaries, within a decade and kiwi would soon follow suit.

Blue ducks and yellowheads are other species at risk from the predators.

Forest and Bird supported use of 1080 poison to kill stoats, he said.

The Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington is one of the mainland's stoat-free zones.

- NZPA

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