The Hihi,
a bird species native to New Zealand, went extinct locally in the 1800s, but
new reintroduction techniques are restoring their population.
The Hihi (Notiomystis cincta), a bird species
once native to New Zealand, was driven locally extinct on mainland New Zealand
in the 1880s. The leading threat this species faced came from the introduction
of invasive rats, feral dogs, and cats. Now, after over 100 years, there
is renewed hope for the native Hihi as a reintroduction project within Rotokare
Scenic Reserve is restoring them to their rightful home once
again.
Researchers
understand that when reintroducing a species in a given location, it will
take them time to adjust. They will likely move around a fair amount
before settling in a location that best suits them. In fact, wildlife managers
tasked with monitoring the progress of the Hihi reintroduction suspected it
would take females about four weeks to settle into a breeding territory. Oliver
Metcalf, a doctoral student involved in the project commented:
We found
the Hihi were initially pretty random in their movements around Rotokare, as
you would expect from birds exploring a new home, but towards the end of the
study they had settled down onto territories, and they preferred to have
territories in areas close to water.”
Researchers
are using novel methods in acoustic monitoring that allow them to track the
ways the Hihi is moving across time and space without having to track each
animal individually. Monitoring the reintroduction as it unfolds requires
acoustic recording devices to monitor the species in the wild. These techniques
are being used to get a sense of how the Hihi are settling in and what breeding
locations they prefer. This new method of monitoring has the potential to be
less intrusive to the species being monitored as well as more cost effective in
the long term. Not only this, it makes monitoring much simpler. If an animal is
particularly small or cryptic, tracking each animal individually can be an
incredibly daunting task for researchers.
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