Buff Weka post release results
30 April 2009
Ngāi Tahu has been upset to find that a cat has got to a small population of buff weka recently transferred to Stevenson's Peninsula.
Four of the six birds that had transmitters have been found dead, from cat and possibly mustelid attacks. The other two bird's signals have gone out of range.
Hoani Langsbury, spokesperson for the Ngāi Tahu weka group, said that predators remain the greatest challenge to any bird restoration project.
Moving the weka to a mainland site that is not totally pest free was always going to have an element of risk. "We thought we had reduced the predator numbers to a low enough level, but this has not been the case," Mr Langsbury says.
"We suspect that a cat has had a feast on the weka and we will be going back to the drawing board, and seeking further advice about the design and scale of a predator control regime that would be required to make the site safe for birds.
"While this is a most unfortunate set-back, in the light of the long-term nature of the project Ngāi Tahu consider it is not cause to despair. The project to date has been highly successful. There are now about 200 weka living on predator free islands in the region, from the original 30 birds released seven years ago."
With the aim of the project being to restore buff weka to their natural range, at some stage this requires moving them from predator free islands to a mainland site. Hoani Langsbury says this step obviously has great challenges, due to the stoats, ferrets and feral cats that range the South Island but despite this Ngāi Tahu does not wish to give up.
ENDS