Riccarton Bush home to wētā and kiwi
Riccarton Bush has been home to several successes recently, with wētā making themselves at home, and kiwi chicks settling in for a winter holiday.
Success with wētā translocations
A joint DOC-Lincoln University-Riccarton Bush Trust project to introduce the Canterbury tree wētā (Hemideina femorata) to Riccarton Bush in Christchurch city has been boosted by finding young wētā live in the reserve.
The project has been in operation for two seasons with seven wētā introduced from sites on Banks Peninsula to Riccarton Bush in summer 2008.
Monitoring the wētā after release has been difficult as the insects abandon their 'motels' (small wooden chambers attached to the trees) leaving no trace of their whereabouts. This summer however, efforts have been doubled and nine wētā were marked, closely monitored and tracked with ink cards attached to the trees which record their foot prints.
Students from Lincoln University 'staked out' the new motels, waiting at night to see the insects leave their homes and climb the trees. On one evening, a wētā nymph (young) of the introduced species was found, indicating that either gravid females have been introduced or better still, last season's wētā are breeding in the reserve.
Either way, this is an excellent outcome as it means the community is likely to have a population of Canterbury tree wētā in its 'back yard'. This is significant because Riccarton Bush was fenced off in 2000 to prevent pest animals entering the bush. Re-introductions of invertebrates known to have once existed in Riccarton Bush can now proceed in the absence of hedgehogs, cats, rats and other invertebrate predators.
Great spotted kiwi chick crèche in Riccarton Bush
Assoc. Minister of Conservation Kate
Wilkinson and ranger Malcolm Wylie
check over the kiwi chick before placing
it in its new burrow in Riccarton Bush
Four great-spotted kiwi/ roroa juveniles ranging in age from 4-7 months old were recently released into Riccarton Bush right in the heart of Christchurch.
With limited space at Willowbank, ranger Malcolm Wylie approached the Riccarton Bush Trust to use their 7 ha bush enclosure for kiwi chicks to winter over.The advantages of Riccarton Bush are its accessibility and the resident ranger locking the enclosure each night. Two kiwi were quietly released and Malcolm tracked and monitored their progress.
Once determined they were doing well, two more chicks were introduced into the bush, this time with an entourage of supporters. The Associate Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson attended, along with the Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker, DOC senior management John Cumberpatch and Mike Cuddihy, the chair and members of the Riccarton Bush and House Trust, the manager of the New Zealand Conservation Trust Dick Moore and staff and last but certainly not least - Grant and Marilyn Nelson from the Gama Foundation that funded the $190,000 predator-proof fence. Read more
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