There are concerns for the welfare of a South Island kākā housed at a public Dunedin aviary.
A group advocating for the native parrot called “Charlie Girl” believed she was showing signs of distress and wanted her returned to her original sanctuary in Te Anau.
However, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said she was fine.
Two decades ago, Charlie was hit by a car as a young parrot on the road into Milford Sound and was raised at the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary.
DOC spokesperson Ash Murphy told 1News: “She is non-releasable, so she can’t really fly, and that’s why she has to be in captivity.”
It was at Te Anau where former volunteer Christina Abramowicz got to know the parrot.
But in June this year, Charlie was moved to the Dunedin Botanic Garden aviary as part of DOC’s kākā breeding programme.
Abramowicz, now advocating for Charlie, believed the parrot’s animal welfare was at risk.
“She’s extremely overwhelmed,” she said.
Abramowicz and her supporters have been documenting her progress regularly in the past few weeks.
They claimed Charlie’s health was deteriorating, with weaving and other behaviour showing clear signs of distress.
“She is being bullied and harassed by the male in the aviary and she needs to be separated from him,” Abramowicz said.
“She’s eating the metal bars which is another stress behaviour,” she told 1News.
But DOC disagreed.
“We wouldn’t characterise those as attacks, those are normal kākā breeding and courtship behaviours … they’re a big parrot, they’re very robust and pretty comfortable having some fun with each other,” Murphy said.
MPI investigated and spokesperson Peter Hyde said it will continue to “monitor the well-being of the kaka Charlie Girl, at the Dunedin Botanical Gardens … and have not found any breaches of the Animal Welfare Act.”
“While concerns have been raised about what appeared to be stressful behaviour being exhibited by Charlie Girl … this behaviour was learnt as a young kākā, when she was kept in previous long-term captivity. Aviary staff continue to work with the bird to ease these behaviours.”
Abramowicz and other vets wrote an open letter and asked for Charlie to be moved back to Te Anau.
DOC said it was not an option and that it was Abramowicz and other advocates who were causing Charlie’s distress.
“Charlie’s had long-term stereotypical behaviours including when she was in Te Anau and they’ve generally been well managed and they haven’t really impacted her overall well-being,” Murphy said.
“She was settling in really well and we were really happy with her behaviours there … unfortunately since this disturbance has ramped up over the last three weeks or so we have seen an increase in some of those stereotypical behaviours,” he added.
But Abramowicz disagreed.
“The Department of Conservation has provided some unsubstantiated claims that my behaviour has changed Charlie Girl’s behaviour for the worst.. I had very positive reactions with her in Te Anau.
“She can best serve the needs of the captive breeding programme and the species from her home in Te Anau,” Abramowicz said.
Dunedin City Council, which runs the aviary, has now asked DOC to find another home for Charlie.
“This is due to recent behaviour by individuals at the garden affecting our staff,” a spokesperson said.
DOC has not confirmed a new location yet as it was still being decided but said it would prefer Charlie stay in Dunedin.
“We’d like to encourage these people to give Charlie a bit of a break and let her settle in nicely … stop disturbing her please,” Murphy said.
“We appreciate their concern but we’re working with experts to ensure that Charlie’s welfare and well-being continues to be prioritised and she’s well supported.”