Black stilt even more endangered

Forest and Bird, Issue 265, 1 August 1992, Page 2

Black stilt even more endangered

THE RECOVERY ot the endangered black stilt population may be set back a number of years because of the critically low levels of Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki this winter. The plight of the stilts has become extremely serious this winter as their feeding grounds on the edge of Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki have dried up. This was the case even before the Electricorp-sponsored bill, giving the SOE the right to lower Lake Pukaki another five metres, was rushed through Parliament in early July. The black stilt is one of the world’s rarest wading birds. It is endemic to New Zealand and its wild population stands at only 72. Black stilts feed mainly on aquatic insects. Of the 39 birds that normally winter on the deltas of Pukaki and Tekapo many were forced by the poor food supply this year to move to other feeding areas. Most of these birds later turned up in the regular mid-winter count carried out by DoC in late July. It was clear from observations, however, that at Pukaki and Tekapo the birds were under stress and were finding food in short supply.

Forest and Bird has been troubled by the Department of Conservation’s inertia over the plight of the bird and its reluctance to argue against lowering of the lake below the agreed legal minimum. This is in spite of the evidence presented by the department’s own black stilt expert David Murray to the select committee inquiring into the Bill.

Mr Murray said that lowering Lake Pukaki could well cause a population decline in black stilts. He said there were six possible scenarios for the stilts following a lowering of the lake, and four of them would lead to a loss of birds. He said that impacts may be evident in next year’s breeding season if not in winter deaths. Forest and Bird appeared before the select committee

and strongly opposed the hast-ily-drafted legislation overriding the Resource Management Act to facilitate a further lowering of the lake. The society’s energy spokesperson, Keith Chapple, argued that Electricorp should conserve its way out of the national electricity shortfall rather than generating its way out, possibly at the expense of the black stilt.