6:55 pm
on 10 November 2018
A bird
that is supposedly extinct has reportedly been spotted in Golden Bay near the
top of the South Island.
A tramper
hiking on the Heaphy Track was looking for takahē in the bush within metres of
the Gouland Downs Hut about a month ago and saw what he described as a large
dark blue bird with orange under its beak.
The bird
flew onto a branch, hopped along a couple of branches, then flew away.
It's
thought to have been a South Island kōkako, known as "the grey
ghost".
South
Island Kōkako Charitable Trust member Ron Nilsson said that like all the half
dozen or so sightings reported annually, this one would be taken seriously.
"There's
probably a few birds there but not many. You know, how do you find them? It's a
lot more difficult than you might imagine.
"But,
every now and again, somebody hears one, somebody sees one."
The trust
is offering a $10,000
reward for definitive photographic evidence of the South Island
kōkako's existence.
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