Image: Matt Binns | Creative Commons
North Island kōkako.
Mapara Wildlife Management Reserve

Located in the Waikato region

Mapara Wildlife Reserve (1400 ha) has been the focus of an intensive and successful kokako recovery project. You can hear and sometimes see kokako from a moderately graded tramping track.

The Mapara Wildlife Reserve and track is about 35 km southeast of Te Kuiti.

Turn on to Kopaki Road from either SH4 or SH30 and then Mapara South Road to the small kiosk at the reserve entrance.
  • For their own safety, do not take dogs into the reserve - poisoning operations are carried out frequently.
  • Stay within the reserve boundary and do not cross the fence onto private land.

The kōkako recovery project started in the reserve in 1989 and has been the model for many other conservation projects around the country.