More protection for endangered kakī

Friday, 9 August 2019, 10:39 am Press Release: Department of Conservation

9 August 2019

A significant increase in predator trapping is giving 130 young kakī/black stilt released in the Mackenzie Basin this week their best-ever chance of survival.

Thousands of new predator traps have been recently installed in the Godley Cass and Macaulay river systems as part of conservation project, Te Manahuna Aoraki. There is now renewed hope that kakī, the world’s rarest wading bird, will one day be able to thrive without human intervention.

Yesterday, 45 juvenile kakī were released at Mt Gerald Station, in the Godley and Cass river systems. Another 19 birds will join them this afternoon, while a further 66 were released into the Tasman Valley earlier in the week.

Department of Conservation (DOC) Senior Biodiversity Ranger Dean Nelson says until recently the young waders have been released in the Godley and lower Cass Valleys with only very limited trapping to protect them from predators like stoats, ferrets and feral cats.

Continued

Cattle stomp in critically-endangered bird habitat

CHARLIE MITCHELL

Last updated 08:12, October 11 2016

 Cattle have been photographed on the nesting ground of one of the world's most endangered species, the Black Stilt/Kaki, which has as little as 70 adults left in the wild. 

Cattle have been spotted grazing and defecating near a breeding area for one of the world's most endangered birds.

An environmental lobby group says it is a terrible look for the Mackenzie ecological area.

A marauding cattle herd was photographed last month walking freely along the Hopkins river bed, near Mount Cook.

Cattle were seen grazing in the Hopkins river, near a breeding site for the critically endangered black stilt.

They had unrestricted access to the river bed, which breaks the rules of the property's pastoral lease.

Poo could be seen scattered amongst the otherwise untarnished landscape beneath the Southern Alps.

The area is home to the kaki/black stilt, the world's rarest wading bird. There are between 70 and 90 adult kaki in the wild. 

It is one step away from extinction.

Kaki breed exclusively in the braided rivers around the Mackenzie Basin.

Continued and video 

Good breeding season for Critically Endangered black stilt – Thanks to farmers

Farmers contribute to record black stilt season

March 2013. A record breeding season for the Critically Endangered black stilt (kaki) has been greatly helped by high country farmers.

Every year the Department of Conservation (DOC) collects kakī eggs from the wild for safe incubation at the Captive Breeding Centre in Twizel. Nearly half (46%) of all eggs taken this summer were collected from farmland in the Mackenzie and Waitaki basins with the cooperation of farmers.

Wet spring
A particularly wet spring saw many kakī abandoning their traditional braided riverbed habitat in favour of wet paddocks and hidden ponds on private land, says DOC biodiversity ranger Simone Cleland.

"We put the word out that we needed help to locate adult breeding pairs so we could collect eggs and got a fantastic response. We had one farmer who rang up to say he had found four eggs and he'd wait until we picked them up before moving his sheep into the paddock."

Ben Avon Station owner, Jim Morris, whose property in the Ahuriri valley also had breeding birds, says that this anecdote shows that conservation and production can work together with thought and effort from all parties.

Back from the brink of extinction
"The black stilt has been brought back from the brink of extinction by the combined efforts of all land managers and this should be seen a small triumph in preserving biodiversity in the high country," says Morris.

Read more:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/black-stilt013.html

DOC appeals for sightings of rare black stilts

As the summer approaches, Twizel's Conservation Department office is on the lookout for some keen bird-watchers.

Community relations ranger Kiersten McKinley said it was particularly interested in any sightings of the black stilt.

"Generally this bird stays in the Mackenzie and Upper Waitaki basins, but they have shown up in places as far south as Dunedin," she said.

"In the past we have trialled radio tracking devices on the birds. However, there were two limitations with this - one is cost and the other is the fact that batteries in the tracking units only lasted 18 months. Technological advancements need to be made in this area; with smaller, lighter and cheaper GPS tracking units being ideal."

The black stilt is one of the most endangered birds in New Zealand, with about 90 adults living in the wild. Every spring, the birds flock to braided rivers to breed. Ms McKinley said the department would be happy to take contributions from local photographers. 

Read on: http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/7837409/DOC-appeals-for-sightings-of-rare-black-stilts