Takahe buddies for Pukaha's Bud
Date: 10 June 2008
Bud, the resident takahe at Wairarapa's Pukaha Mount Bruce wildlife centre, is lonesome no more following the recent introduction of two male buddies to his enclosure, visible from the centre's popular café.
The birds, transferred from Mana Island (off Wellington's west coast), provide company for Bud following the death of his long-time companion Georgie earlier this year.
Department of Conservation captive breeding ranger Bevan Cameron, who worked on the takahe breeding programme at Burwood Bush rearing unit in Te Anau, is pleased to have more of his favourite native birds at Pukaha.
One of the new takahe arrivals at
Pukaha Mount Bruce
"The takahe are here for advocacy purposes for visitors to the centre. We don't breed birds but rather allow people the rare opportunity to see them."
Takahe were thought to be extinct until their rediscovery in 1948 in the Murchison Mountains in Fiordland, where around 130 birds remain today.
DOC's work with takahe includes establishing breeding pairs on four islands: Mana Island, Kapiti Island (north of Mana), Maud Island (Marlborough Sounds), and Tiritiri Matangi Island (Hauraki Gulf). There are approximately 60 birds on the islands. The department also runs a captive breeding and rearing programme at Burwood Bush, Te Anau.
Although takahe are no longer bred at Pukaha Mount Bruce, it was the plight of this colourful flightless bird that led to the establishment of the national wildlife centre. Wairarapa farmer and keen ornithologist Elwyn Welch took four takahe chicks back to his farm there in 1958 to be fostered by bantam hens to safeguard the species from extinction. The New Zealand Wildlife Service took over Welch's work in 1962, setting up a native bird management reserve in the Mount Bruce forest. ENDS