Kākāpō: Waikato’s four feathered residents at Sanctuary Mountain joined by sextet

Department of Conservation Kākāpō Recovery operations manager Deidre Vercoe introduces Manawanui to the crowd at Sanctuary Mountain. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

A flight from Invercargill to Rotorua had a special group of passengers on board on Wednesday: kākāpō males Elwin, 15, Kanawera, 7, Manawanui, 4, Tautahi, 4, Taeatanga, 9, and Manaaki, 4.

The feathered but flightless sextet had their own seats in the passenger cabin before they continued their journey to Waikato’s Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari near Cambridge by car, where they joined Bunker, Ōtepoti, Motupōhue and Māhutonga who already settled there in July.

The group of 10 are the first kākāpō in almost 40 years to live on the mainland and have been relocated as part of a habitat trial since the predator-free offshore islands where New Zealand’s kākāpō population has been living until now are nearing capacity.

Department of Conservation (DoC) Kākāpō Recovery operations manager Deidre Vercoe said: “This [relocation] feels like we are cementing our commitment to trialling this site. Last time ... we were like ‘How are they gonna go? Is this gonna work?’, whereas now, we’ve done health checks on the first four and we are really happy with their condition.

“So, to be able to take that next step forward is partly a relief ... We’re on the right path here.”

However, there are currently no further plans to bring any more kākāpō to the Waikato and it could be a decade until DoC is looking at introducing females.

Manawanui was part of the second group of kākāpō released at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari on Wednesday. Photo / Stuart Attwood

“We will have these 10 birds here for [at least] the next year before we re-evaluate what’s next,” Vercoe said.

“We don’t have any pressure around females in terms of population numbers on the islands. We’ve recently learned that the density of females at a site might actually have a [positive] impact on fertility.

“So at least for the next few breeding seasons, we’d like to have reasonably high-density females at our breeding sites ... Also, it really could take five to 10 years at [Sanctuary Mountain] to understand how well the males do here ... So at the moment we are just prepared to give it some time.”

When asked how many kākāpō Sanctuary Mountain had capacity for, Vercoe said: “It’s a big site. It could potentially hold up to 100 kākāpō.”

The current total kākāpō population is 247. Until now, they were only present on four offshore islands: Anchor Island Pukenui and Chalky Island Te Kākahu o Tamatea in Fiordland, and Whenua Hou Codfish Island and Pearl Island near Rakiura Stewart Island.

The birds are estimated to have an estimated life expectancy of up to 90 years.

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari biodiversity ranger Dan Howie pictured with the kākāpō fence modification. The sheet of stainless steel is set to prevent the birds from climbing out. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

At 3400ha, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is the largest predator-fenced habitat in the country, which is why it has been chosen as a trial site.

Sanctuary Mountain biodiversity ranger Dan Howie said while Bunker, Māhutonga, Ōtepoti and Motupōhue were all found well and healthy at the one-month health check-up, Sanctuary Mountain still “represents some unknowns”.

“Although we know that historically, kākāpō did live in the Waikato region and there were many here, it’s obviously been some time, so there is a lot to be learned about their diet ... and what habitat they use,” Howie said.

“[Also], there is the potential for them to leave the sanctuary by the fence, [although] our team has done a lot of work over the last year to install a kākāpō barrier on the inside of the fence which aims to prevent the kākāpō from leaving.

“Males were introduced as a starting point because ... if something went wrong and some males were lost, it would have less of an impact on the population overall in the long term.”

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari volunteer Sue Reid. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

While the initial release in July attracted nationwide and even international attention, Wednesday’s event was more for the Sanctuary Mountain community, including neighbouring landowners, volunteers and local iwi.

One of those volunteers is Sue Reid, 79, who is a retired teacher and has been involved with Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari since 2003. She is originally from the South Island and always had a passion for nature.

“As a student, I worked in Dunedin ... I took children through the Otago Museum and told them kākāpō were extinct. And to know this so-called extinct bird ... is not by any means ... it’s unbelievably exciting,” Reid said.

She also worked with the late Cambridge environmentalist Chris Smuts-Kennedy.

“He was absolutely sure this would happen, so to see this now is very moving.”

Kākāpō are a taonga species to South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu who are the traditional kaitiaki of the kākāpō.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kākāpō species representative Tāne Davis said securing a strong population at Maungatautari is just the first step in achieving the vision of returning the birds to the mainland of the Ngāi Tahu takiwā.

“To save our kākāpō from extinction we have sent our taonga to our iwi partners, but one day we hope to see Rakiura Stewart Island and other areas of the mainland predator-free, so we can bring their uri (descendants) home.”

Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust Board co-chair and Ngāti Koroki Kahukura representative Norma Taute said it is a privilege to receive a further six taonga kākāpō “so soon” after the July transfer.

Kākāpō males Manawanui (pictured), Elwin, Kanawera, Tautahi, Taeatanga and Manaaki moved to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari this week. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

“We are very hopeful that with our combined efforts from all iwi, our community, landowners, council, DoC, and of course volunteers on Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, we are providing kākāpō with the very best advantage to thrive.”

Elwin, Kanawera, Manawanui, Tautahi, Taeatanga and Manaaki came off Whenua Hou Codfish Island, Pukenui Anchor Island and Te Kākahu-o-Tamatea Chalky Island.

While the 10 kākāpō are living in the Waikato, they will be closely monitored. Apart from systems currently used, Sanctuary Mountain will use a new special drone which will help the team to “monitor them more intensely over time”, Howie said.