EDITORIAL

The Takahe Recovery Group is celebrating a record breeding season which produced 65 juveniles bringing the national population to 418 birds. For the first time in at least a century the number of takahe has passed 400 and the number of breeding pairs has more than doubled in the last six years, from 66 in 2013 to 130 today. The Trust shares in celebrating this milestone with the contribution of Motutapu-resident breeding pairs to the population increase!

“While the overall population number is good news, the number of breeding pairs is a more accurate indicator of population health, “ says Eugenie Sage, Minister of Conservation. “The number of takahē breeding pairs shows a good gender and age balance in the population and is critical to being able to keep pushing takahē further away from extinction.”

The increase in the takahe population is a major win for conservation when other species are struggling. Takahe, (Porohyrio mantelli), a flightless bird, indigenous to New Zealand, was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered by George Orbell in 1948 near Te Anau in Fiordland’s Murchison Mountains.

Since then, the Takahe Recovery Group, a network of people throughout New Zealand has been working very hard ‘to ensure that the takahē is never again ‘considered extinct’.

There are now two wild populations, one in the Murchison Mountains and the other in the Kahurangi National Park. To safeguard these wild populations about two-thirds of takahē are spread across eighteen secure island and mainland sanctuaries. This is to safeguard the species should some disaster threaten the wild populations. However, the sanctuary sites have limited available habitat. As takahē numbers increase, the challenge will be to find more suitable safe sites to establish more wild populations.

Managing so many breeding sites creates challenges, including juggling takahē between them. Young birds often need to be removed from islands to prevent them breeding with close relatives. This means regular transfers between takahē sites. Birds are regularly arriving and departing from Motutapu as part of the national management plan.

Congratulations to all those involved in the Takahe Recovery Programme to ensure the future of this critically endangered taonga. The Trust thanks Hazel Speed, Department of Conservation (DOC), who looks after the takahe on Motutapu. It is wonderful that the predator-free, restored, native habitat on Motutapu has played a part in the recovery of this ancient bird.