Taranaki's kōkako population
is slowing climbing, with four more of the endangered birds making
the region home over the past week.
Released into the Parininihi
Forest, near Urenui, the new residents are a part of a catch and release
operation in which 20 kōkako will be taken from the Rangitoto
Ranges, on the northern edge of Pureora Forest Park, King Country, and
relocated to the area this month.
Leading the efforts, Tiaki
te Mauri o Parininihi Trust, responsible for bringing the rare bird back
to rural Taranaki after a near 20-year absence, hopes to one day have
500 kōkako living at Parininihi.
And according to trust
chair Davis McClutchie, they are well on their way.
Eighteen years after the
last kokako, named Tamanui, was moved from Parininihi to a captive
breeding programme run by the Department of Conservation (DOC), 12 of his
descendants were brought to the national forest in May last year.
Davis said the additional
20 kōkako marked an important milestone
for the Ngāti Tama-led trust and are critical in building a
genetically healthy and robust kōkako population.
But he said the programme was
bigger than just Parininihi.
"As we strengthen and
expand our pest control work and increase native populations,
biodiversity corridors can be created connecting our work to other
projects", Davis said.
Volunteer Phil Andrews,
of Shell Taranaki, will be on the ground helping with the catching
this week.
Continued
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