New home for ko¯kako
Western Bay of Plenty District Council staff took part in an expedition to relocate ko¯kako to
tanewainuku Forest last month.
Council’s community relations advisor Glenn
Ayo was one of the
tanewainuku Kiwi Trust (OKT) volunteers who captured 10 ko¯kako from the Kaharoa Ecological area and set them free in
tanewainuku during the second week of August.
Ko¯kako are an endangered native bird and these 10 join 29 others now calling
tanewainuku home following relocation from Kaharoa and Rotoehu forests since the programme began in 2010.
The reintroduction of ko¯kako to
tanewainuku is a partnership project between OKT and the Department of Conservation’s Kokako Specialist Group. It has been funded through the Department of Conservation’s Community Conservation Partnerships Fund.
Council has a strong relationship with the
Trust and last year provided $20,000 to help fund transmitter and monitoring equipment. Glenn Ayo has been part of previous relocation expeditions.
Kaharoa and Rotoehu forests’ ko¯kako populations have similar genetics to the original tanewainuku population, which helps the relocated population to thrive in tanewainuku.
The first ko¯kako translocations to tanewainuku in 2010 and 2011 released 19 birds. This began the programme to establish a self-sustaining kokako population and to ensure successful breeding.
It was done in conjunction with an intensive predator control programme in tanewainuku — also run by the trust.
Glenn says the success of the relocation programme indicates the working relationship between the Trust, DOC, the Kaharoa Ko¯kako Trust and Council — and the massive input from volunteers.
“It is only through the different organisations working together and being committed to a common goal that this
programme has achieved this level of success over the past eight years.
“It is a thrill to see these birds thriving and breeding in
tanewainuku — and it has been equally as thrilling to have been part of it.”
Parekura Whareaorere of Waitaha iwi who shared the experience says it was a very special moment.
“What an amazing morning! The trust has been working on the Ko¯kako Restoration Project for nine years and I am glad to have ended the project with the final release. If the forest flourishes, the people will flourish.
“The name, tanewainuku raises our consciousness of the divine gifts within the sanctified domains of Te wao nui a Tane. This is recognised by Waitaha through whakairinga korero, supporting the protection and preservation of waahi tapu, forests and all that live within it.”
The ko¯kako belongs to the endemic New Zealand wattlebirds (Callaeidae), an ancient family of birds including the saddleback and the extinct huia. The ko¯kako is the only member of its family still surviving on the mainland.
A survey of ko¯kako in tanewainuku in 2017 found 47 kokako made up of 18 pairs, six singles and five juveniles — confirming that tanewainuku is a suitable habitat for ko¯kako and that, with the continued support from volunteers, sponsors and DOC, has the potential to form a strategically important population.
■ For more information on the Trust’s work, visit www.kiwitrust.org/