“Vegetation clearance work around the fence line of the sanctuary is ongoing after climbing trials in June showed the birds that got out likely used overhanging vegetation. We’ve also set up a feeding hopper for each bird which appears to have helped them settle.”
However, earlier this month, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari biodiversity rangers noticed Bunker and Tautahi had been logged on the monitoring network as usual, but Taeatanga hadn’t been detected for a few days.
“This seemed unusual as Taeatanga had remained within a stable home range since March,” Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari operations manager Dan Howie said.
After ten days of what must have felt like the world’s longest (and most unsettling) chapter of Where’s Wally – pardon, Where’s Taeatanga – with Sanctuary Mountain rangers searching inside and outside the sanctuary, as well as setting up additional trail cameras, a kākāpō was spotted on camera footage near the known home range of Taeatanga.
“Rangers spent several days watching the cameras for any regular movements or routines before setting up a lure of food nearby a likely hotspot. Then, it was time for a nighttime stakeout,” Howie said.
Not long after dark, the kākāpō turned up, and was caught and confirmed to be Taeatanga.
“He was in great condition and still wearing his transmitter when he was found, but the battery had failed. This had left him undetectable by the monitoring network and radio telemetry,” Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari biodiversity ranger Craig Montgomerie said.
“We fitted a new transmitter and Taeatanga was officially back on the radar after 15 days. He has been checking in daily with the remote monitoring system and remains in his usual hangout.”
A spokesperson for the Kākāpō Recovery team said it wasn’t uncommon for kākāpō transmitters to fail, with up to 5% failing each year.
“It can take some time, but these birds can often be found using prior knowledge and data to search likely locations, the lure of a food hopper, or through the assistance of conservation dogs.”
The positions of all three birds at the site continue to be checked three times a week and their activity is still monitored closely.
The Kākāpō Recovery team said work on improved and kākāpō-specific GPS tags has been making great progress.
“We hope to roll out new versions soon. We’ve also been trialling the use of a drone to assist with tracking the kākāpō,” they shared on social media.
The trial is a collaboration between the Department of Conservation, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Meridian Energy, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, and local iwi Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, Ngāti Hauā, Raukawa and Waikato.
It has been running for 18 months and already provided many lessons, but the team said it could be years until they know enough about the site and the part it could play in the recovery of this taonga [treasured] species.
Waikato kākāpō timeline
- July 2023: Bunker, Māhutonga, Ōtepoti and Motupōhue move to Waikato.
- September 2023: Elwin, Kanawera, Manawanui, Tautahi, Taeatanga, and Manaaki join the quartet.
- October 2023: Tautahi is the first bird to escape the sanctuary.
- November 2023: Tautahi escapes a second time, Motupōhue and two other birds breach the fence and the decision is made to relocate Motupōhue, Manawanui and Kanawera to a southern predator-free island.
- January 2024: Elwin escapes twice, Manaaki and Elwin are removed from the trial.
- February 2024: Māhutonga returns to his original island home after breaching the fence twice in a short period.
- May 2024: Former Waikato residents Elwin, Kanawera, Manawanui and Motupōhue move to Coal Island Te Puka-Hereka and the DoC and SMM team starts trialling new GPS tags.
- June 2024: Climbing trials take place, Ōtepoti is removed from SMM and moves back down south.
- September 2024: Ōtepoti dies at Dunedin Wildlife Hospital after being found underweight and unwell at a scheduled health check.
Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
