Takahē have returned to the top of the South Island for the first time in a century, with eight of the rare flightless birds carried onto Onetahua, the base of Farewell Spit, after a new four kilometre predator-proof fence sealed off 2,000 hectares of Golden Bay coastline from rats, stoats and feral cats.
The translocation was the work of a long partnership between the Department of Conservation, Manawhenua ki Mohua, the HealthPost Nature Trust and the community group Pest Free Onetahua. The birds came from Gouland Downs in nearby Kahurangi National Park, where DOC is winding down a trial sanctuary site so the takahē can be redistributed to other locations with better long term prospects.
The fence itself cost about 400 thousand dollars and runs along the Old Man ridgeline at the base of the spit, sealing in a sweep of dunes, wetlands and around 50 kilometres of coastline. The protected zone is already a Ramsar wetland of international importance, home to gannets, little blue penguins and a long list of other sea and shore birds, and DOC and its partners are hoping that more threatened native species, including kiwi, can follow the takahē in over the coming years.
DOC Golden Bay Operations Manager Ross Trotter told RNZ that the spit is an internationally recognised ecosystem with incredible biodiversity values, and that it is great to see the Nationally Vulnerable takahē added to the mix. He said it is a popular visitor site with some fantastic walks, and that visitors having the chance to see takahē while they are nature watching will really add to that experience. “It’s through the work of many we’ve gotten to this stage, and it shows the difference we can make for nature when we all pitch in,” Trotter said. He confirmed that the site is a trial sanctuary and that the birds will be closely monitored to make sure they are settling in well.
The move out of Gouland Downs has not been entirely a celebration. Phil Marsh, who leads sanctuary sites for the DOC Takahē Recovery Programme, said it was bittersweet to move the birds, with the Kahurangi site never quite delivering what conservation rangers had hoped for. “The food sources weren’t as good as we thought they would be, adult survivorship was lower than expected and there were some struggles with successful breeding to keep the population going,” Marsh said. “We’re excited to build on this knowledge at this new sanctuary site in Onetahua.”
Manawhenua ki Mohua, which represents the three iwi of the Golden Bay area, Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Rārua, has been central to the project from the start, alongside supportive roles from Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō. Chair Margie Little said the moment had been a long time coming. “Our hopes are that the takahē will flourish in their new home and ensure their survival for future generations in Mohua,” she said.
The HealthPost Nature Trust, founded by the family behind the natural health retailer of the same name, has been one of the major private backers of the project, joining together with national partner Fulton Hogan, the New Zealand Nature Fund and a long line of community volunteers who have done much of the trapping and fence work. Pest Free Onetahua, the community group on the ground at the spit, has been quietly chipping away at predator numbers in the area for years, and the new fence is the most visible result of that work.
The takahē story remains one of New Zealand conservation’s most quietly remarkable arcs. The species was declared extinct in the late nineteenth century, only to be rediscovered alive in November 1948 by Invercargill doctor Geoffrey Orbell in the remote Murchison Mountains of Fiordland. For decades the entire surviving population was confined to that one valley system. There are now just over 500 takahē alive in total, classified as Threatened, Nationally Vulnerable, and the species is being slowly seeded back into predator-controlled sites across both islands as suitable habitats are restored.
Golden Bay is the latest of those sites and, if it works, will become one of the more significant mainland sanctuaries the species has had since rediscovery. The 50 kilometre coastline inside the new fence sweeps north along the peninsula before tapering out into the long thin spit itself, a 26 kilometre dune system that is one of the most important shorebird roosts in the Southern Hemisphere. The vision now is to layer one species on top of another as the predator load comes down, building back something that has not been seen in this corner of the country since well before living memory.
For Manawhenua ki Mohua and the Golden Bay community, the eight birds are the first proof that a fence and a few decades of patient trapping really can change what is possible at the top of the South Island. The local target is to be officially predator free across the whole peninsula, and there is talk of kiwi being next on the list once rangers are confident the takahē have made themselves at home.
If you have visited Farewell Spit, walked the inland tracks of Golden Bay or simply love hearing news of native birds being restored to places they used to live, leave us a comment below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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