A project to restore and preserve wildlife in Abel Tasman National Park has hit a major milestone as native bird populations grow.
Project Janszoon in December released three kākā into the park – the final release after 12 years of work. In total, 38 kākā have been released and 31 have been born in the wild since the project began, with the population now large enough to continue on its own.
The project’s director, Bruce Vander Lee, said there were just two or three of the birds left in the park when the work began.
“There’s a fair population in the park now and they’re becoming regularly visible to visitors which is really cool,” he told 1News.
The last birds to be released came from Dunedin before going to Natureland in Nelson and staying in an aviary in the park for several weeks.
“I always think when the bird comes out of the aviary, that bird just took the longest flight of its life into its new home,” Vander Lee said.
Abel Tasman National Park is the country’s most popular great walk, with around 190,000 visitors every year.
“We think it’s very special and we want people who come here to see the whole gamut of the ecology that should be here,” he said.
The success of the project was only made possible by partnering with the Department of Conservation and local iwi.
Board member Aneika Young (Ngāti Rārua, Te Ātiawa) said while the project has come full circle, the work still continues.
“We still want to make sure that we can restore more of our taonga back here so it’s flourishing into the future,” she said.
Another partner is the Birdsong Trust which does pest control within the park.
Volunteer Garry Flintoff said he used to get up to 30 rats a week, but it’s now closer to 10.
“It tells you you’re getting somewhere,” he said.
Flintoff said he never saw kākā in the wild when he began volunteering with the trust eight years ago.
“They’re now around as we go through trapping. They’re liable to sit on the branch just above where the trap is, watching you. And then when you step back, they land down on the trap and have a look at what you were doing,” he said.
While other native birds have been released over the years, kākā were the final piece of the puzzle. Efforts will now turn to ensuring the growing native bird population continues to soar.