Wednesday,
8 May 2019, 10:19 am
8 May
2019
Mohua
numbers have risen more than 30-fold and overall, native bird numbers have
doubled in the 21 years since monitoring began in 1998, recently analysed
Department of Conservation (DOC) results show.
DOC
Principal Science Advisor Dr Colin O’Donnell says the long-term study charts
the response of 13 native bird species following sustained predator control to
suppress rats, stoats and possums.
“Our most
recent bird count data from last spring shows seven native bird species are
still increasing in numbers, four species remain stable, and two have
declined.”
“For the
first time in 21 years, mohua have become the most common bird counted, which
is what they would have been in this valley prior to European settlement.”
“The
results are exciting because year by year we’re seeing a re-balance of the
valley’s birdlife and don’t know when population limits will be reached,” says
Dr O’Donnell.
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