Threats to saddleback/tīeke
North Island saddleback/tīeke
In the early 1960s, disaster struck the southern species. A boat accidentally brought ship rats to Big South Cape Island (largest of its three island homes), and quickly spread to the other two. The result was an ecological nightmare for many endemic species and caused the extinction of the Stewart Island snipe, Stead's bush wren and the greater short-tailed bat.
The New Zealand Wildlife Service (now incorporated into the Department of Conservation) came to the rescue and saved the saddleback from extinction.
Early in 1964, the NZ Wildlife Service successfully transferred some North Island saddlebacks from Hen Island, Hauraki Gulf to nearby Whatapuke Island, possibly the first time the translocation of a species had been successfully carried out. This led the way for the translocation of South Island saddlebacks from their rat-plagued islands to predator-free ones. The current population of over 700 birds is descended from the survivors of the 36 saddlebacks rescued in 1964. This method of translocating species to island refuges continues to be a major strategy of the Department of Conservation.
The North Island saddleback is now resident on nine large islands (7,000 hectares) and is in a favourable position to survive. The South Island species is on 11 smaller islands (500 hectares) and it needs translocating onto further predator-free islands if it is to recover. Co-operation between local iwi, who harvest muttonbirds on several of the islands, and the department has been crucial to the success of the conservation work being carried out for the southern species.
Learn more
Bird identification online course
Learn how to identify 10 forest birds
Contacts
DOC HOTline - 24 hour emergency number
Phone 0800 DOC HOTline (0800 362 468) to report:
Sick or injured wildlife
Whale or dolphin strandings