Huia found two years after theft
A rare stuffed huia bird worth upwards of $15,000 has been recovered by Kāpiti police nearly two years after it was stolen from a Dannevirke museum.
Huia have been extinct for more than a century.
The last confirmed sighting was in 1907 in the Tararua Range.
The birds were prized by Māori and by Pākehā – their white-tipped tail feathers a revered taonga.
Female huia had a distinctive long beak, and it was a female bird on display at the Dannevirke Gallery of History that was stolen in July 2020.
Area commander Inspector Tracey Thompson said the huia was recovered in the past few days.
‘‘We received information about the potential whereabouts of the huia this month, and on May 27 officers searched a residential address in Paraparaumu and recovered it,’’ Thompson said.
‘‘Upon recovering the huia, we informed the gallery and the local iwi, who were very relieved to hear of this development.’’
Dean Bradley Mudgway was arrested and charged for stealing the huia.
He was sentenced to 19 months in prison in June last year for the theft and a range of other offences. At the time it was feared the bird would never be found, with Mudgway refusing to say where it had gone.
The Dannevirke Gallery of History was home to a pair of huia, which were shot in the Pohangina valley, north of Palmerston North, in 1889 and mounted as a wedding gift before being donated to the museum.
Thompson said inquiries into the theft and recovery of the huia were ongoing.
‘‘We are working closely with mana whenua in Kāpiti, Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai and Ngāti Huia ki Porotawhao in Horowhenua, on the return of this taonga to the gallery,’’ Thompson said.
‘‘We welcome the support and guidance from iwi on this important process to ensure that appropriate protocols are observed.’’