Twenty endangered pateke/brown teal waterfowl, like these
birds living on Great Barrier Island, will be flown to a
new home in Fiordland National Park this week. Photo by
Dick Veitch.
Rare pateke/brown teal birds will be given a lift in a
commercial airliner and a tourist helicopter to the wilds of
Fiordland National Park tomorrow, the first major release of
the endangered species in the South Island.
A total of 20 birds were brought from breeders around the
country, including Kiwi Birdlife Park, in Queenstown, to
Isaac Wildlife Trust's pre-release holding facility Peacock
Springs, in Christchurch.
The waterfowl will be accompanied by three Department of
Conservation (Doc) rangers and travel to Queenstown on a
commercial flight before flying to Milford Sound with Real
Journeys. From there, they will take a short helicopter ride
to their new home in the Arthur Valley, close to the Milford
Track.
There are fewer than 1800 pateke living wild in New Zealand,
making them the rarest waterfowl species on the mainland.
The birds making the journey to Fiordland have been raised by
the Department of Conservation's Pateke Recovery Group, with
support from Real Journeys and Banrock Wines.
Doc biodiversity ranger Andrew Smart, of Te Anau, said more
than 200 pateke could be released into Fiordland over the
next five years.
"The first 20 is to make sure the trapping is adequate to
protect them from stoats, and we believe it is. Next year, 40
to 60 birds [will be released], and a similar amount the
following year, to create a self-sustaining community."
Each bird has been colour-banded, in order to identify an
individual and its history. Permanent metal bands with
identification numbers were attached as well.
The birds will carry 14g "backpack" radio transmitters for
the first 12 months to make finding the small, usually
nocturnal, creatures easier. If a bird is motionless for 24
hours, the transmitter switches to "mortality mode".
Doc biodiversity ranger Pete Kirkman will monitor the
transmitters' broadcasts, check the pest traps and top up the
supplementary feed three times a week for the first two
months. He would return three days a fortnight over the
winter, before resuming thrice weekly trips by September and
the breeding season.
Mr Smart said pateke had evolved without night-time
predators, and were vulnerable to introduced pests and
changing habitats. If a bird was found dead, it would be
transferred to Massey University to determine if death was by
pest, predator or misadventure.
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