Golf balls main threat to weka

Forest and Bird, Issue 281, 1 August 1996, Page 6

Golf balls main threat to weka

Ann Graeme

A HAURAKI GULF resort, Pakatoa Island, is now home to 29 young weka, bred by Forest and Bird members as part of the society’s North Island weka project. Finding an island to establish a new weka population took on considerable urgency last December, when nearly all the weka liberated at Karangahake by Forest and Bird were killed by ferrets. It had become clear that the society’s attempt to establish a weka population at this mainland site had been beaten by the problem of introduced predators. With only about 2,000 North Island weka remaining, and more than half of them vulnerable on the mainland, the status of the subspecies is precarious. Pakatoa is a beautiful little island with small sandy beaches and rocky headlands, clustered chalets, a rolling golf course interspersed with patches of regenerating forest and, most importantly, no dogs, cats or ferrets. The release day in early August was a triumph of coordination as members of the weka team from all over the North Island brought their captive-reared birds to meet the boat at Maraetai. The weka were taken by

tractor to the far end of the island, carried to the rough grass on the edge of the dam and released. Most ran like quicksilver into the cover, but a few surveyed their surroundings and strutted across the fairways. The breeders watched them go with mixed feelings of pleasure and regret. Forest and Bird is grateful to John and Bernice Ramsey, owners of Pakatoa Island, for giving a home to this threatened species, and we trust they, their

visitors and the weka will enjoy each other’s company. We also thank Auckland DoC and Mike Lee of the Hauraki Islands = |

Drancn for smoothing the path of the release. Further weka releases on Pakatoa are unlikely. Since mainland release is not a useful option at present, DoC’s Weka Recovery Group is expected to come up with plans for more "backstop" islands to secure more weka populations and sustain the bird should it become extinct on the mainland. These islands will then become the homes of the next generation of Forest and Bird’s captive-bred weka.