Weta return to Somes Island
SOME 60 COOK Strait giant weta began a new life on Somes Island in Wellington Harbour during March and April. The weta are found naturally only on a number of islands in the Cook Strait-Wellington area. They became extinct on the mainland in the 1930s and are the first threatened species to be transferred to rodent-free Somes since the Department of Conservation took over the island’s management last year. Being nocturnal animals, the transferred weta were collected from Mana Island off the Porirua coast at night and kept in plastic shrub-lined boxes during the day before being released the following evening on Somes. More giant weta will be released over the next year to help the population build. A small population of Wellington tree weta has also been transferred to the island. Forest and Bird members have been revegetating Somes for some 15 years, and DoC’s goal is to restore as much as possible of the island’s original ecosystem. The department plans to release a draft restoration plan in June for public comment.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/FORBI19960501.2.8.6
Bibliographic details
Forest and Bird, Issue 280, 1 May 1996, Page 6
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178Weta return to Somes Island Forest and Bird, Issue 280, 1 May 1996, Page 6
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