Translocation

Source Author Year Title Quote
Otago Daily Times Online News 06/04/14 Rebecca Fox 2014 Research aids kea conservation “…allowing conservation managers to move birds between populations as part of any conservation attempts to reverse the kea’s decline.”…Department of Conservation technical adviser Bruce McKinlay said the struggle to find the right population to manage would be easier thanks to this research”
Kea Conservation Trust Updates June 2014 Kea Conservation Trust 2014 Conflict issues continue – Queenstown and Motueka “Kea were recent regular visitors at the Skyline Gondola in Queenstown throughout April and May, causing damage to chairlift cables, machinery and signs…personnel at the gondola also see the value of having the birds around and are keen to put a strategy in place …Unfortunately kea in the Motueka area have not been as well received with a number of people and businesses wanting them removed from the local area.”
Kea Conservation Trust updates 16/12/13 Kea Conservation Trust 2013 Kea Conservation Trust (KCT) Update “6 of the 7 kea causing damage to properties in Kaiteriteri (Motueka) were caught up by DOC in September and relocated to Canaan Downs (15 kms away). After 4 of these returned to Kaiteriteri 2 days later they were caught up by KCT in October and moved to Rotoiti (90 kms as the crow flies)”
Kea Conservation Trust updates 16/12/13 Kea Conservation Trust 2013 Kea Conservation Trust (KCT) Update “…released at Canaan Downs (named Asterix) has died as the result of getting caught in a stoat trap. Aterix’s body was found by trapping volunteers (who were obviously most upset) on the 13th November. It appears that he managed to pry the screwed down lid off the trap to gain access. A warning has been sent out to other trapping groups in kea habitat to check their lids are secured firmly.”
Stuff.co.nz 06/09/2013 Alastair Paulin 2013 Pesky kea shifted to new hilltop home “DOC received half a dozen reports of kea around the Motueka and Takaka valleys a year and had to move kea once or twice a year”
Stuff.co.nz 06/09/2013 Alastair Paulin 2013 Pesky kea shifted to new hilltop home “Mr Kemp…estimated the national population of birds…at 5000. It is illegal under the Wildlife Act for people to move or kill kea themselves”
Nestor Notabilis 6 T. Orr-Walker 2012 Winter Advocacy Tour “Our first talk at Otago University also included a fascinating talk about kea genetics from PhD student Nic Dussex. To date he has isolated micro satellites from over 500 DNZ samples – many of these collected by us during our Summer Surveys…the 4th site at Kaikoura Mountains has a very small sample of 4 so he has not as yet included these in his results…could have profound ramifications in regards to kea representation in captivity and any future reintroductions of birds into the wild…”
Papers in Behaviour Biological Sciences Paper 45 1991 J. Diamond & A. Bond 1991 Social Behaviour and the Ontogeny of Foraging in the Kea (Nestor notabilis) “…these factors suggest a complex ontogeny, requiring extensive learning about both the social and ecological environment”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “Keas are afflicted with disease as other living flesh…Here it is relevant to mention that bites by Kea fleas cause pustules on me which take a week or more to heal, quite unlike ordinary flea bites; apparently the severe bite is caused by the staphylococci carried by these fleas.”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “Perhaps the most serious parasite is the flea. Autumn nests are very heavily infested. Often the fleas carry large numbers of mites, part of the nest fauna..the very large nest fauna includes mites, flies…Staphylinid and Dermatisid beetles”