Maud Island

Forest and Bird, Issue 298, 1 November 2000, Page 14

Maud Island

— Conservatic

Forest and Bird led the : campaign to purchase one . of New Zealand’s most famous nature sanctuaries, — 25 years ago. DEREK == — BROWN looks at the gains. =

his year Maud Island celebrates its i 25th anniversary as one of New Zealand’s best known and important wildlife sanctuaries. This Marlborough Sounds island was originally purchased as a reserve in 1975, much of the funding derived from a public appeal led by Forest and Bird. Situated in central Pelorus Sound, Maud Island had been farmed since 1867. The island was virtually denuded of forest, though a heavily grazed 18 hectare fragment of the original coastal forest was fortuitously left to protect the water catchment. This act unwittingly preserved the first of the endangered species to be discovered on the island — the pakeka frog (formerly known as Hamilton’s frog). The bush offered the last refuge for this native frog, which was scientifically ‘discovered’ in 1958, although its presence was known to the island’s farming inhabitants for many years before this. The survival of the frog gave an early signal of the potential of Maud Island as a refuge for our ever-diminishing wildlife. Even in the early 1960s when it was still being farmed, it was recognised by such people as the Wildlife Service’s Don Merton and Brian Bell as having high con- servation values — and outstanding potential. The main reason for this is that, despite years of human occupation, Maud

remains rodent-free, and largely free of other predators and pests. Its 305 hectares were therefore — even on a worldwide scale — highly significant. Maud first came to prominence in 1974 when the owner, Jack Shand, agreed to let the island be used to house the last of the Fiordland kakapo. This was, of course, prior to the discovery of a population on Stewart Island in 1977, and the Fiordland birds were assumed to be the last of their species. It was envisaged Maud be managed as an ‘open aviary’ where critically endangered flightless birds could be intensively managed and monitored in order to boost productivity. The Wildlife Service was at this time desperate to find islands free of predators, which could then be used for intensive species management. Maud, though by no means perfect, was the best of the few options available. Jack Shand had by this time already signalled his personal commitment to conservation by fencing and gifting the forest remnants and the upper sections of Maud Island to the Crown as a Flora and Fauna Reserve in 1971-72. A few years later Jack was nearing retirement and magnanimously offered the rest of the island to the Crown for the meagre sum of $78,000. The cash-strapped Wildlife Service could not spare even this amount, so a public subscription was raised to find

the shortfall. A Forest and Bird fund-rais-ing campaign was pivotal in securing the purchase. Within a year, Maud Island was officially designated the Tom Shand Nature Reserve, after Jack’s uncle, a longterm local MP and cabinet minister. (Its status was later altered to a more appropriate Scientific Reserve status.) One of Maud’s first uses was as a refuge for the last of the Fiordland kakapo, and parts of the island were planted out with a wide variety of native and introduced

plants. Even at this early stage, Don Merton and others realised that the successful breeding of kakapo was strongly tied to an abundant and enduring supply of certain foods, so the aim was to provide the greatest possible flush of food at the appropriate season. In 1974 the first two (male) kakapo were transferred from Fiordland, and the following year a third joined them. The latter bird was named Richard Henry after the visionary nine-teenth-century pioneer conservationist and custodian of Resolution Island, in Dusky Sound, Fiordland. In 1980, the first of the Stewart Island birds were transferred from their cat-rav-aged home. Most of the kakapo coped well with the potentially risky transfer, and settled well into their new home, but in 1982 disaster struck. A stoat was detected on the island — the 900-metre gap between the island and the mainland wasn’t sufficient to prevent a determined stoat reaching Maud. The inevitable decision was made to shift the birds to the relative safety of Little Barrier. In what turned out to be a prolonged see-saw battle, stoats were eradicated from Maud Island a year later. Kakapo were reintroduced in 1989, only to have stoats re- invade the island a second time a year later. This time kakapo were kept on the island, amid a furious debate about the relative risks of shifting the birds (and perhaps jeopardising several breeding seasons) or letting them stay, with the possibility one might be killed by a stoat. Determined efforts by staff on the island eventually resulted in eradication of the stoats without the loss of any kakapo. Future invasions of stoats are hopefully being thwarted by intensive trapping regimes, both on the island and on the adjacent mainland. So far, this has been totally successful despite several mainland ‘stoat plagues. It is now more than six years since the last stoat was killed on Maud and there has been no re-invasion. While the two stoat invasions were incredibly disappointing events, some positive elements have resulted. Staff involved in the stoat eradication and the ongoing control on the mainland have become some of the most knowledgeable and experienced in the trapping of these wary predators. They have been regularly called upon to assist and advise in other parts of the country. The Maud Island kakapo saga has been fraught with challenges. Two adult female kakapo of unknown age joined the three males there in 1991, but lack of breeding by 1997, along with the ‘Sword of DEREK BROWN

Damocles’ stoat issue, saw a recommendation that all the kakapo should be transferred off the island without delay. It looked like all the hard work and hope by so many Wildlife Service staff, DoC staff and volunteers, over more than 20 years, was to be in vain. After some discussion one last potential breeding season was to be allowed, after which the birds were to be moved immediately. Miraculously, one little hen was to change this decision, virtually overnight. In March 1998, Flossie — a female who during 14 years on Little Barrier proved unmanageable and as a consequence was transferred to Maud 18 months earlier — was found sitting on a nest containing three eggs, incredibly sited within the island’s pine plantation! What’s more, she had mated with the last known surviving Fiordland male, Richard Henry, ensuring his valuable genes were perpetuated. Flossie’s three offspring are thriving, and along with nine others successfully raised in the last few years, offer real hope for the recovery of the species. Maud Island is now one of just two important focal points for the survival and recovery of this critically endangered species. It currently holds 17 (including five juveniles) of the 62 kakapo known to exist. (The other kakapo are held on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, off Stewart Island.) While kakapo have captured the headlines, the island has seen several other success stories. The first of these was the transfer of the Cook Strait giant weta from Mana Island to Maud in 1977, by Mike Meads. This was one of the first attempts at the translocation of an invertebrate species, and its aim was to establish anoth-

er secure population of the threatened species within its former range. Mike released the weta on Maud’s long, bootshaped peninsula. The population seemed to take some time to gain a foothold but an exponential increase in recent years has seen the population reach hundreds of thousands, spread over much of the island. Alongside Mana and Stephens Island in Cook Strait, the successful transfer to Maud means the species now has three very healthy and secure populations. The pakeka frog, which occurs naturally on Maud, has been the focus of one of New Zealand’s longest scientific studies, undertaken by Dr Ben Bell of Victoria University. This study continues to turn out vital information for the management of our native frogs, such as breeding behaviour, population densities (up to 8 per square metre in prime habitat!) and population-age structures (some of the frogs are well over 20 and one is at least 32 years of age!). Dr Bell also carried out the first successful translocation of native frogs, from the main forest to a smaller bush remnant on Maud. This opened the door for future work including the recent transfer of Maud frogs to Motuara Island in Queen Charlotte Sound. It has recently been discovered that Maud Island frogs are genetically different from the Hamilton’s frog Leiopelma hamiltoni of Stephens Island — so much so that they have been described as a new species Leiopelma pakeka. This species, once widespread over the mainland of New Zealand, is now confined to Maud Island and its new home on Motuara. Fortunately its situation on Maud looks rosy, with Elizabeth Bell (a recent student of Ben Bell’s)

estimating 19,000 frogs inhabit the island. This healthy population is spreading as the forest regenerates, while the Motuara Island transfer secures the species further. One rare inhabitant of Maud managed to elude observers for many years, until its discovery in 1989. The striped gecko Hoplodactylus stephensi, a beautifully marked forest gecko was previously thought to exist only on Stephens Island — and in pitifully small numbers — so the finding of a second population on Maud has eased concerns about the survival of this species. Maud Island is also an integral part of the ‘takahe recovery programme’ It is part of the ‘managed island’ population which is proving valuable insurance for the species, as DoC staff struggle to arrest the decline of the last remaining natural population in the Murchison Mountains of Fiordland. Maud has maintained a moderately productive population of several pairs since 1984, with ‘surplus’ birds being made available for stocking Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf, and other islands. Birds are regularly transferred from island to island, ensuring that in-breeding is minimised. One of the most under-rated success stories has been the creation of a new breeding colony of a common seabird, the fluttering shearwater, on Maud Island by Brian Bell and Ornithological Society volunteers. Well-grown chicks from a neighbouring island were transferred to special handmade burrows on Maud, and handfed until fledging. Shearwaters will nearly always return to breed on the island where they were raised. On reaching maturity (four or five years after leaving Maud), some have already returned. The simple technique of ‘switching’ islands at a critical time in the chicks’ development has meant the mature birds have started returning to breed on Maud Island, creating what is hoped will become a self-sustaining population. This is the first time an entirely new breeding colony of shearwaters has been established through transfers. While not important for the survival of fluttering shearwaters, the project has pioneered vital techniques which it is hoped will facilitate establishment of new breeding populations of threatened seabirds such as the taiko, where current nesting locations are threatened by predators. Maud Island also holds a recovering population of the large native snail Powelliphanta hochstetteri obscura, along with other rare invertebrates such as the Cook Strait click beetle. The rare shrub Hebe speciosa has been transferred here

Forest interior on Maud Island shows typical frog habitat. At right: the Maud Island frog or pakaka, until recently found nowhere else in the world. Mid right: the Cook Strait click beetle is an endangered flightless insect found on Maud Island. Bottom right: the Cook Strait giant weta is descended from a population transferred from Mana Island off the Wellington coast. from its one natural South Island location at Titirangi Bay, and is surviving well — as is the Cook Strait Spaniard reintroduced in the 1970s as a kakapo food. Maud has been a conservation leader in several ways, with early and successful transfers of birds and insects, and vitally important remnant populations of rare wildlife. The island is also one of the first to have an official pest and weed prevention and control strategy put in place. This has been widely used as a model for developing systems on other ‘conservation islands’ throughout the country. In its early years as a reserve, Maud was in effect sheep pasture — an open paddock of European pasture grasses, with a tiny forest remnant of 18 hectares. In 25 years it has been transformed into an important reserve for native plants and animals. The revegetation continues to expand in the complete absence of pest species such as possum, rat, goat and deer. As a result, the quality of the lush kohekohe-dominated bush is unsurpassed in the region. The regeneration is benefiting the island’s

wildlife too. Even the exotics such as tree lucerne offer excellent habitat for outstanding populations of tui, bellbird and kereru — up to 50 pigeon have been seen in a single flock! Some locals and holiday-makers were initially opposed to the ‘closing’ of public access to the island, but that view has largely been overtaken by an understanding and even a pride in its current conservation values. Limited numbers of open days and controlled tourist visits have benefited in raising awareness of the island’s role and of conservation in general. Many a visitor has gone away beaming at the experience of having a fearless takahe stroll across the track in front of them, or of being photographed holding a giant weta. As islands such as the open sanctuary of Tiritiri Matangi have shown, first hand experiences are crucial for developing conservation awareness amongst the general public. The DoC Nelson-Marlborough Island Strategy outlines a commitment to keep a permanent staff presence on the island, and identifies possible future introductions including mohua (yellowhead), short-tailed bat and South Island saddleback. Although these are exciting prospects, the current suite of species by themselves justifies the Department’s continued management effort. Maud has been staffed full-time since 1984, and the three successive caretakers, Selwyn Bucknell, Dave Crouchley and Brian Paton, along with the fulltime ‘kakapo minders, have all put a lot of their lives into the island. Maud was privately owned and could easily have been sold to the highest bidder. Nowadays its commercial value would be in the millions of dollars. For conservation, however, it is priceless. Without too much stretching of the imagination, Maud

could now be a foreign-owned resort, like several other areas in the Sounds. We owe a lot to the wisdom, dedication and generosity of Jack Shand, and to the vision, commitment and exceedingly hard work of Maud’s ‘pioneer workers’ such as Brian Bell and Don Merton. The support of the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society members was clearly crucial in securing the purchase of the island. Twenty-five years on, Forest and Bird can justly take credit for making such a ‘sound’ investment. DEREK BROWN was formerly responsible for threatened species protection in the Marlborough region.