Cannibalism, fast-breeding, indoor-defecating, destructive pests - Pakatoa Island owner John Ramsey doesn't hold the endangered weka species in high esteem.
"They're not a nice bird," says John Ramsey, owner of one of the Hauraki Gulf's few privately held islands, where he says weka have become profuse.
"Instead of introducing weka,we should have introduced kiwi," he said.
He regrets allowing the flightless birds to be released on his land 23 years ago, saying he wished instead with the benefit of hindsight it had been New Zealand's national bird.
"Weka are very destructive. They'll come into your house and shit in there. Some of them have swum all the way to Waiheke, some swam to Rotoroa and even Kawakawa Bay on the mainland," he said referring to the area near Cleveland.
"On Waiheke, they're wrecking vineyards and they breed three times a year."
Brent Ramsey, who has been visiting Pakatoa since his father bought it in the early 1990s, said the island weka were cannibalistic.
"Once they run out of food, you see them eating each other. There are hundreds of them on the island, all over it."
The Department of Conservation lists lizards, rodents, food scraps and carrion in the weka diet. It says the heavy brown birds are "famously feisty" and have a "curious personality", and are fully protected on mainland New Zealand.
A DoC report, Weka (Gallirallus australis) recovery plan 1999-2009, cites Hauraki Gulf weka populations and notes the release of the species on Pakatoa on August 3, 1996.
"By mid-1997, the weka on Pakatoa had bred successfully, with over five pairs breeding in the first six months after release, and over 10 sub-adults had been seen," DoC said.
Ramsey said a growing population of the endangered dotterel/tuturiwhatu, tui, bell birds/korimako and grey warbler/riroriro delight he and his family, who holiday on the island every Christmas.
A DoC spokesman said weka had swum a maximum of 900m in calm waters but there was not more scientific evidence they had paddled any further. For them to swim as far as Waiheke, Rotoroa or Kawakawa Bay was impossible, he said.
Weka breed on Pakatoa Island. Photo / File
North Island weka was an endangered species and islands had been used as "lifeboats" to try to reduce declining numbers, particularly in places where rats had been eradicated, he said.
It was Forest and Bird, not DoC, which released weka on Pakatoa in 1996 with DoC's approval, he said. DoC was not managing the Pakatoa weka population because the island was in private ownership, he emphasised.
"Currently, weka are up against it except on havens like offshore islands. On the mainland, without intervention, they will disappear," he said.
One sceptic questioned Ramsey's weka-swimming claim, said: "Perhaps they walked on water or had a ferry ticket?"
Since 1994, Ramsey has owned the 24ha jewel near Waiheke Island.
Pakatoa is off the east coast of Waiheke's Cowes Bay. The island lies north of Rotora Chamberlain islands and south of Waiheke's Man O'war Bay.
john Ramsey bought Pakatoa Island in 1994. Photo / File
Ramsey, aged 79, bought Pakatoa for $4.25 million in 1994. Since about 2006 he has been advertising it for $40m with many different real estate agents.
Because $40m is the stated, well-advertised asking price, Pakatoa features as New Zealand's single most expensive property for sale and has done for at least 13 years.
But even with previously lax foreign investment laws which might have allowed such sensitive land to be sold to overseas parties, no buyers ever fronted with that much cash.
Ramsey said he continued to receive offers to sell it, but for well under $40m: one buyer recently was keen to run massages on the island, using it as a type of health retreat, but he said she "wanted me to leave money in and I told them to go away".
A billionaire had offered $30m not long ago, Ramsey said: "So I told him to come back with $40m and you have a deal."
It's not only weka Ramsey doesn't like: boaties anchor off Pakatoa and bring their dogs onto the island to defecate, he said, despite warning signs saying no trespassers and warning that people will be prosecuted.
The DoC spokesman said weka had rapidly disappeared between about 1914 and 1930 throughout much of the country.
"This coincides with the introduction for ferrets to control rabbits. Predation by ferrets is the major cause of death of adult weka with ferrets and cats to be the most important threat to chick survival," he said.
Experimental removal of cats and ferrets from several weka territories was associated with an increase in productivity, he said.
John Ramsey with son Mike. They holiday on the island at Christmas. Photo / File
"In addition, stoats killed some birds and were implicated in declines in Kenepuru Sound, Marlborough Sounds. At Rakauroa/Matawai, large numbers of hedgehogs were trapped in the study area, and these or rats were the most likely to have been responsible for losses of [weka] eggs."
Weka were relatively resilient, but that was not the case because of the prominence of predators, he said.
A Waiheke local said weka had no effect on vineyards on that island: "Weka don't eat grapevines. Small birds eat grapes but weka can't fly."
Ramsey said he had a significant birthday coming up in 2020. Although he is retired, he was crutching ewes when the Herald called in early December.
Crusader Meats, his family business, processes about 3700 animals a day, and he owns a number of farms.
For him, part of the secret of his business success was buying properties or businesses which were run down. Being debt-free was another key.
"I've no got borrowings on any of my interests," Ramsey said. "But I did go into debt to get where I am."
