Hi guys!
I was having some trouble finding a topic for the article today, so I decided to focus on a news item that I am personally very interested in: the resurgence of the prehistoric takahē.
The takahē is a bird species that has resided in New Zealand for millions of years. In a story akin to the Dodos, these large a vibrant animals lost their ability to fly in the absence of predators and abundance of food. This made them, unfortunately, an easy target for the Māori people, who hunted the takahē for a full meal. Colonialists, well known for their slaughter of native species (remember the Dodo) soon joined the fray. The species had already become rare by 1840s, when museum collectors entered the pursuit for the rapidly declining birds - only a few were found. In 1898, the takahē found on the north island were eradicated, while the southern island birds were declared extinct.
That is, until 1948, when Geoffrey Orbell and a small team managed to once again locate the elusive species, sparking a massive conservation movement to ensure they never again disappeared. Some chicks were raised in captivity, invasive predator control efforts (including stoats, ferrets, and rats), and the establishment of a “plan B” population on Kāpiti Island in 1980 in case of main island extinction. These efforts have borne fruit - in 2012, the takahē population was only 107. Now, it’s reached 475, a historic achievement for bird conservation.
Another milestone was reached recently, eighteen takahē birds were released Lake Whakatipu Waimāori valley, their ancestral home before “extinction.” The species hadn’t set foot there for a hundred years. It was a great moment for the Māori people, for whom the species was once a part of their culture - their feathers were have historically been used for cloaks.
Stellar recovery efforts have managed to ensure that the takahē will live to see another day.