Skifield kea numbers rise

The number of kea at the Remarkables skifield in Queenstown has almost doubled during the past year, with seven known to revisit the area.

It follows a two-year predator control and habitat management by skifield staff and the Kea Conservation Trust.

The return of the endangered birds was a ‘‘remarkable feat’’ NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson said. ‘‘We’re passionate about deepening our understanding of this rare and cheeky bird.’’

Last year he announced NZSki would give $250,000 over five years toward finding and protecting the nationally endangered bird at The Remarkables and Coronet Peak skifields, in Queenstown, and Mt Hutt, in Canterbury. Thousands of the native parrots lived in the South Island mountains but numbers had reduced dramatically in recent years with only four known kea at The Remarkables and none spotted at Mt Hutt last year.

Part of the programme was to catch the kea, test for lead poisoning (and rehabilitate as needed), tag and, if possible, attach a $350 transmitter to adult femalesto track movements and find the nesting site.

Anderson said five of the seven known kea had so far been banded and were being monitored. Last weekend one of the male kea was officially named Ta¯hae, which means ‘‘thief’’ in te reo Ma¯ori, by Alexandra woman Amy McLoughlin. Ski staff will name the other tagged birds.

The Kea Conservation Trust is now planning to extend its monitoring efforts across the Wakatipu basin, at Ben Lomond, the only other site in the Wakatipu known to have kea visiting.

Trust co-founder and chair Tamsin OrrWalker said people who saw kea were encouraged to report their sightings via the kea sightings database.

NZSki staff will continue their summer Kaitiakitanga programme across The Remarkables, Coronet Peak and Mt Hutt through native plant revegetation, pest control and wilding pine eradication – ensuring the environments are a place where native birds like the kea can thrive.