Cookie the kaka has a new home in aviaries
When he assumed the role of acting natural heritage manager in July 2015, Matthew Lark made a joking-pledge to his colleagues.
It was, that under his watch, Sanctuary Mountain would have at least one bird to care for in its vacant but fully functional aviaries.
As of January, Lark delivered on that pledge, with a brand new kaka being installed, who will hopefully join the wild flock at Maungatautari very soon.
This kaka was found by Matt Cook, the mountain’s previous natural heritage manager in 2014. The bird was so sick that he could be picked up with ease.
Cookie, as he came to be called, was suffering from heavy metal toxicity from ingestion of zinc, and he had an infection in his wing tips that had destroyed nearly all his flight feathers leaving him unable to fly.
As a flightless bird he had been surviving by scavenging for food on the ground. When he was found he was very skinny, ravenously hungry and in need of urgent care.
Hamilton Zoo vet Micah Jensen is assisting Matthew Lark and a team of seven volunteer carers to rehabilitate the precious bird.
‘‘Heavy metal toxicity is common in inquisitive native parrots that forage around urban areas and can even be passed to their chicks in the nest,’’ Jensen said.
‘‘Since this kaka just turned up seemingly out of nowhere, we may never know how he made his way to the Maungatautari kaka aviaries.’’
He was taken initially to Hamilton Zoo but has been to various carers since 2014. He’s stayed with bird rescuer Bill Smith and with vet Janelle Ward at Wintec, over a long spell of rehab.
Nearly three years later this kaka has moulded into a beautifully feathered, healthy parrot again.
Now he needs to build up some muscle strength and conditioning to survive in the wild, he needs to learn to fly properly and above all, learn to be a kaka again.
‘‘I expect we’ll be able to release him by autumn or some time in midwinter,’’ Lark said.
But release is no certainty. Since this kaka has such an unknown beginning, he needs to learn and adopt kaka ways.
‘‘No one wants to release a bird that won’t survive, so he has to be acting like a wild kaka for us to open the aviary door,’’ Jensen said.