Takahē. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
From cliff-scaling skinks to takahē on tramping tracks, species around the motu have hit milestones of all kinds in the past year.
- One year of kākāpō on the mainland
- Critically threatened giant wētā bred in captivity for first time in decades
- A record breeding season for Northern Albatross and - A lone rat on the otherwise pest-free paradise of Motutapu Island was killed after a months-long chase costing thousands of dollars.
- Kiwi have spread from Wellington's Remutaka Ranges to the outskirts of Upper Hutt.
- Capital Kiwi population on the southwest coast taking off.
- Annual bird count showed 55 percent increase since 2011.
Now, here are some gains for nature you might not have heard about.
Original takahē discovery site in the Murchison Ranges reaches full capacity as the population thrives
This year was likely the last in which rangers would need to rigorously monitor the population of takahē in the Murchison Ranges, with the population reaching capacity.
Glen Greaves, senior ranger in the Department of Conservation's (DOC) takahē recovery team, said the species was rediscovered at this site 76 years ago, and the population had been closely monitored for the past 50.
"We think it's around 250, we don't know exactly - it's 50,000 hectares of mountainous terrain, so we have to give it an estimate - but we're pretty certain its between 220 and 260 birds."
That meant the site was at carrying capacity. It was a huge area, but the usable land was a lot smaller - and takahē needed up to 100 hectares per pair.
They still faced challenges, he said. "It's a really tough site, it's not takahē Nirvana. It receives really cold winters, some pretty extreme weather events, its topography is really challenging for the birds as well, we have a lot of misadventure - you know, birds falling off cliffs and drowning in ponds and rivers during flood events."
But those challenges meant pests had only just arrived, and that had allowed takahē to thrive.
"We think the size of the population means it's quite resilient and we can now take a step back."
It had been 20 years of involvement for Greaves, and a labour of love for the team.
"We'll miss it, it's definitely the most exciting and rewarding place to go and visit, being such a historically important site for takahē, but it's just an awesome place.
"But it's also a big tick in the success box as well, being able to step back means that we can put those resources into new sites."
Trampers spotting takahē on the Routeburn
In another "massive milestone" for takahē, Greaves said birds from the Greenstone Valley population had begun to disperse outwards in search of new territory, via the popular tramping track, the Routeburn.
In 2023, 28 birds were released onto a working station owned by Ngāi Tahu.
But in the search for new territory, the birds were taking the path of least resistance. That meant trampers were catching a sighting, with many sending in pictures and reporting what band colours they spotted, which Greaves said was encouraged by DOC.
For centuries takahē have only been in the Murchison Mountains and offshore islands, and the Murchison Mountains are closed to the public.
"So for the public to be able to see these birds in their natural landscapes, in a place they've been absent for centuries, is huge."
Tokoeka kiwi chick survival rate up to 70 percent
The Fiordland tokoeka, or Southern Brown kiwi, population at Shy Lake on the remote Wet Jacket peninsula in Fiordland officially reversed its decline with a population growth of about two percent per year.
DOC had been monitoring the population since 2017 when every single chick was killed by stoats, and the population was declining by two percent.
DOC ranger and project lead for tokoeka, Chris Dodd, said two predator control operations in 2020 and 2023 knocked back stoats and about 20 percent of kiwi chicks survived for the following two years.
This past season, chick survival spiked to a remarkable 70 percent.
And it had been a win for other bird species as well, with even a group of kākā coming down to the hut to say hello - something Dodd had never seen before.
"It's been great, I've been working out there the past three years now, and even in the past two years we've seen increases in species like South Island Robin [and] kākāriki."
Skinks scaling cliff faces in last remaining population pocket
Senior science advisor at DOC, James Reardon, said the Sinbad skink was first noticed by climbers more than a decade ago, on a vertical rock wall known as Shadowland, 320 metres high, in an alpine area of the Sinbad Gully in Milford Sound.
The assumption was that they would turn up elsewhere, in the thousands of hectares of suitable habitat, but in the past decade an "enormous amount of effort" had gone into the search - and they were nowhere to be found.
The Sinbad skink. Photo: Tony Jewell
Reardon said they were probably wiped out by pests, like rats and mice.
In order to give the species the best chance of survival, the team planned a translocation of part of the population to a peak on Secretary Island, 8000 hectares of rodent-free land off the coast of Fiordland.
But while originally there were thought to be about 500 mature skinks living on that rockface, a more recent survey found far fewer - not enough to be confident in moving half to a new location in which they might not survive, Reardon said.
A test case was put forward in the similar Mahogany skink species, which was more abundant and had a faster breeding cycle. If those were able to be successfully translocated, the team would "have confidence to know its a suitable habitat for lizards", Reardon said.
Now, they awaited a window of three or four days of good weather, with the necessary number of qualified rangers available, to fly the Mahogany skinks about 100 kilometres to their new home.
