Cunning Kākāpō at Maungatautari
Kākāpō could soon establish a population in the Waikato, but only if the cunning escapees can be successfully contained at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.
The potential future for the mountain, near the Waikato town of Cambridge, becoming a Kākāpō recovery site was discussed at a Maungatautari Reserve board meeting this month.
But the possibility that they could venture off the inland safe haven, surrounded by pest proof fences, was a significant focus.
‘‘Before any of this happens we’ve got to look at actually a mechanism to keep the Kākāpō in the mountain, rather than for them to be able to climb out the fence,’’ Waipa¯ District Council heritage and museum manager Tony Roxburgh said. ‘‘So there’s a little bit of work on the side looking at that.’’
A physical barrier for a similar purpose had previously been designed overseas, but council had been considering other methods of keeping the Kākāpō in as well.
‘‘I think there’s other mechanisms, potentially having electrical indicators fitted to the bird,’’ Roxburgh said.
‘‘When they get to the fence, [staff] can go and find the bird and make sure that it doesn’t get that close, and perhaps the bird can then be persuaded to be elsewhere on the maunga.’’
He believed that having the flightless nocturnal parrots on Maungatautari would be ‘‘the pinnacle of success’’.
Waikato’s Gallagher Group, which specialises in fencing systems, had expressed interest in supporting the project to keep the Kākāpō in their sanctuary pen.
John Innes, a Landcare Research wildlife ecologist based in Hamilton, had received notice from the Kākāpō Recovery Programme that they would like to explore options of siting the birds at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.