New Zealand birds: Takahe facing extinction find new home in sanctuary

Two flightless takahe were released astatine a New Zealand sanctuary successful the latest effort to halt immoderate of the world's rarest birds becoming extinct.

The pair, Waitaa and Bendigo, sprinted retired of their cages to cheers from the assemblage astatine Zealandia successful Wellington.

Last week, 18 takahe were released successful mountains successful South Island to effort to boost a tiny colonisation successful the wild.

Their find successful distant grasslands of the Murchison Mountains connected the South Island sparked conservation efforts that person raised the colonisation to adjacent to 500.

Takahe are plump birds with a beardown reddish beak, stout legs and agleam bluish and greenish feathers. They turn up to the size of a ample hen and tin measurement arsenic overmuch arsenic 3kg (6.6lb). They are often mistaken for pukeko swamp hens that are visibly thinner, according to New Zealand's Department of Conservation (Doc).

The takahe breed lone erstwhile a year, raising 1 to 2 chicks, and unrecorded up to 18 years successful the chaotic and 22 years successful sanctuaries. They unrecorded connected a high-fibre fare of starchy leaves and seeds.

New Zealand's autochthonal birds evolved earlier the ascent of mammals and are susceptible to predation by onshore predators introduced by quality settlers.

The merchandise past week of 9 breeding-age pairs astatine Greenstone Station successful the Lake Whakatipu country was an effort to found a 3rd chaotic colonisation connected South Island wherever the birds person a peculiar taste and spiritual significance.

The different chaotic populations are successful Fiordland's Murchison Mountains and successful Kahurangi National Park, wherever takahe were archetypal released successful 2018.

"After decades of hard enactment to summation the takahe population, it's rewarding to present beryllium focusing connected establishing much chaotic populations, but it comes with challenges," said Doc's Deidre Vercoe aft past week's release.

"Establishing caller chaotic autochthonal taxon populations tin instrumentality clip and occurrence is not guaranteed. If we privation takahe to thrive, we request to research caller sites and larn arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin to support the birds present and into the future."

Māori, the indigenous radical of New Zealand, see the takahe arsenic being taonga - a treasure that should beryllium protected.

Conservationists person agelong worked to power the populations of the takahe's predators - stoats, feral cats, ferrets and rats.

Before the astir caller wildlife merchandise successful Greenstone Station, conservationists installed 45 ferret traps and 25 feline traps.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources considers the South Island takahe arsenic endangered oregon 3 steps from extinction. It has marked the North Island takahe arsenic extinct.