On 20 November 1948, Dr Geoffrey Orbell and three friends headed into a hidden valley in Fiordland’s Murchison Mountains with a dream in mind: to find the thought-to-be-extinct takahē.
Photo: Potton & Burton
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When he and the group returned victorious, it made headlines around the world.
November 2023 will mark the 75th anniversary of this rediscovery. So, what’s happened in the time since?
Someone who has been following the fortunes of the takahē closely is former Our Changing World producer and presenter, natural history book author, and lover of birds, Alison Ballance.
Alison has just released her latest book: Takahē – Bird of Dreams.
She sits down with Claire Concannon to talk about writing the book, her experiences of seeing takahē in the wild, and how the takahē have fared since their rediscovery.
Listen to the full episode where we include a replay of Alison's 2018 episode marking the 70th anniversary of takahē rediscovery, including a trip to the Murchison Mountains to release two takahē.
