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.

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Kip helping in fight to protect native birds in Mackenzie Basin

Matthew Littlewood 13:00, Feb 12 2019

DOC ranger Cody Thyne's conservation dog, Kip, is trained to find native birds in some of the most torrid terrain in the Mackenzie region.

She's cute, has an amazing sense of smell and is being used in the fight to protect the region's wildlife.

Kip the German shorthaired pointer has just received full certification as a conservation dog - certified to locate Kaki, wrybill and Whio, and is now working for the Department of Conservation (DOC) sniffing out native birds in the Mackenzie Basin.

DOC ranger Cody Thyne said it has taken about two years Kip to get to this stage.

"It takes a bit of time. You get your dog and spend quite a while teaching them the basics," he said.

Kip replaces the office's former conservation dog Jazz who died about two years ago.

"We had to jump through a number of hoops before Kip got full certification to make sure she's completely safe.

"The dogs really are an efficient tool for conservation work. Their noses can't be beaten. They are an awesome advocacy tool as people often stop me to ask what the dog is used for."

In order to be identified, the dogs wear hi-vis vests when out on patrol and always wear a muzzle when working around protected species.

Thyne said the dog is able to sniff out kaki (black stilt) nests and hidden chicks.

"She can help me find eggs.

"When you actually go into the kaki terrain along the braided rivers it all just looks the same, so quite often the dog can narrow the search down and point us to the nests.

"Using the dog is a really easy way to find the birds."

Thyne described Kip as a "very active" dog.

"The joy of it is the first time you see her point, or indicate, the bird. It takes months and months to get to that stage, but it's so rewarding when it happens.

"She's very high strung, so she needs to be kept busy." 

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Rare kakī spotted outside of Mackenzie Basin near Timaru

The birds predominantly live in the Mackenzie Basin where the Department of Conservation Kakī Recovery Programme is run to build numbers of the once near extinction species.

Two kakī  that have appeared on a farm near Timaru are the latest of the world's rarest wading bird to be reported outside of the Mackenzie Basin.

South Canterbury farmer, George Steven said he had seen two kakī who had made a home for themselves on his dairy farm in Otipua, near Timaru. 

He first noticed the birds, who had stuck together and made a home for themselves in a wetland paddock on his farm, about a week ago.

South Canterbury farmer George Steven found a couple of the rare black stilt on his property.

The birds predominantly live in the Mackenzie Basin where the Department of Conservation Kakī Recovery Programme is run to build numbers of the once near extinct species.

"The stilts are in the paddock that has pockets filled with water." 

Readon  

Captive-bred, some of world's rarest wading birds released in Mackenzie Basin

JOHN BISSET/STUFF

51 young Black Stilts were released into the wild at the head of Lake Tekapo on Tuesday.

The last captive juvenile kaki – the rarest wading bird in the world – ventured into the wild for their first time in the Mackenzie Basin.

Fifty-one of the birds were released onto the Godley Delta, at the head of Lake Tekapo on Mt Gerald Station, on Tuesday afternoon.

The 9-month-old kaki were released by Department of Conservation (DOC) staff and pupils from St Andrew's College in Christchurch.

The boxes open and kaki, or black stilts, are released into the wild at the head of Lake Tekapo.

Their release meant there were now no juvenile kaki left in captivity ahead of the next breeding season, DOC aviculturist Liz Brown said.

There are 106 adult kaki in the wild and five adult breeding pairs in captivity. Two of those pairs were in Twizel and three were in Christchurch, she said.

DOC biodiversity senior ranger Dean Nelson said the release of the birds was "very cool"; it was "like all our hard work has come to fruition".

Tuesday was the fourth date to be scheduled for the release. The other dates were affected by rain or high winds.

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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 

Rare kaki make fleeting West Coast appearance after 37 years

By Emma Hurley

Monday 3 Oct 2016 5:05 p.m.

Two rare native birds have been spotted on a West Coast dairy farm - the first such sighting in 37 years - and the Department of Conservation (DoC) is asking the public to keep an eye out for them.

Kaki ranger Liz Brown says this is the first sighting of kaki in the Arahura Valley since records began in 1979. Kaki are critically endangered, with less than 100 birds in the wild.

"It's pretty neat to see where they ended up.  After they disappeared, we thought the worst.  We supplementary feed newly released birds for around six weeks post release, but happily, these two sussed out how to fend for themselves without our help," she says. 

DoC staff identified the birds by their leg bands. They were part of the department's breeding programme in Twizel, a partnership with the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust in Christchurch. The pair hatched during the 2014/2015 summer and were released in early January.

As part of the breeding programme, eggs are collected from both captive and wild pairs where they're artificially incubated and chicks are hand-reared for release into the wild.

Kaki have been intensively managed since 1981, when their population declined to a low of just 23 birds.

Although the sex of the birds is unknown, it is possible they may be a breeding pair.

Anyone who spots the elusive pair should email Ms Brown.

Source  

World’s rarest wading bird gets boost

Huge boost for New Zealand's critically endangered kakī

September 2013. The wild population of critically endangered kakī/black stilts received a much-needed boost when the NZ Department of Conservation (DOC) released 91 young birds in the Mackenzie Basin.

DOC Biodiversity Manager Dean Nelson said 65 of the birds had been raised at the Captive Breeding Centre run by DOC staff in Twizel. The remaining 26 birds had been raised at the Isaacs Wildlife Trust aviaries in Christchurch and then transported to the release site.

Set free in two releases near Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki, it was hoped that the nine month old birds would eventually disperse throughout the whole Mackenzie Basin.

Record breeding season

"These releases are a result of last summer's record breeding season, with 171 eggs brought to the Captive Breeding Centre. Not all the eggs hatched, but the 91 birds that have made it this far are going to massively increase the wild population. We released 31 juvenile birds earlier in the year because the breeding season was so successful," said Mr Nelson.

23 wild pairs

Another record was the number of adult kakī breeding pairs located last summer which now stands at 23 productive pairs in the wild.

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