Little spot moves to Mana

Forest and Bird, Issue 267, 1 February 1993, Page 3

Little spot moves to Mana

A LITTLE SPOTTED kiwi, long thought to be extinct on the mainland, was moved to a patch of forest on Mana Island last October. The bird, discovered at Franz Josef, was originally thought to be a great spotted kiwi but genetic testing showed otherwise. The last confirmed sighting of the smaller species in the South Island was in 1938 and the bird is now only found on off-shore sanctuaries such as Kapiti, Red Mercury, Hen and Long Islands. DoC moved the bird, despite local opposition, because of what it saw as considerable

risks posed by dogs, cats and stoats in the Franz Josef area. The department plans at present to keep the lone bird, a female, separated from other, genetically different, little spotted kiwi on nearby Kapiti Island. Officers from the kiwi recovery programme hope to find a mate from any remaining southern population during searches around Franz Josef this summer. The controversy surrounding the shifting of this one bird highlights the need for DoC to consult with local conservationists and conservation boards before taking precipitate action on the future of endangered species.

Footnote: In news just to hand, a new kiwi species has been described from Okarito forest in Westland National Park. It has long been known that the 60-100 "brown" kiwi at Okarito were a distinct population. Genetic analysis has now confirmed that the birds are sufficiently different to be classed as a separate species. The Okarito birds, now an instant endangered species, are greyer than brown kiwi with white feathers on the head and neck.