Ski company wants kea to return to New Zealand skifields

Friday, 14 September 2018

It is becoming increasingly rare to see kea at southern ski fields, such as this one perched at the Remarkables.

Once the scourge of skifield carparks, kea are now being encouraged back to the mountains.

NZ Ski is giving $250,000 over five years toward finding and protecting the nationally endangered bird at The Remarkables and Coronet Peak skifields, in Queenstown, and Mt Hutt, in Canterbury.

The Government spent 150 years paying a bounty for dead kea.

Kea were once in abundance at the Mt Hutt skifield and known for gnawing on the rubber of car windows or the toggles on ski racks while the oblivious owners made the most of the slopes.

However, only four birds were spotted at the skifield last year. This year there have been no sightings.

Kea are known for being playful - with humans as well as each other.

*Death of kea will remain a mystery after family disposes of birds' bodies

*Adventurous flock of young kea spotted in Kahurangi National Park**

Near Queenstown there are thought to be only four living in the vicinity of The Remarkables and none at Coronet Peak (although a breeding pair is thought to nest at nearby Ben Lomond).

Kea Conservation Trust chairwoman Tamsin Orr-Walker said bird numbers had declined dramatically in recent years, with less than 5000 remaining in the South Island.

'There's been no studies of kea around these areas at all. This will be the first time we've managed to get in and do some proper research.'

In the first year of its five-year commitment NZ Ski will focus on The Remarkables skifield where researcher Tom Goodman will attempt to catch the kea, test for lead poisoning (and rehabilitate as needed), tag the birds and, if possible, attach a $350 transmitter to any adult females, so they can track movements and find the nesting site.

This would make it easier to protect individual kea, and/or breeding partners, while pinpointing exact locations to protect from predators.

NZ Ski has announced the funds to coincide with Conservation Week, which begins on September 15, and says it will work closely with the Trust to find and protect kea, educate visitors and locals on kea conservation, and protect and enrich the natural habitat for kea.

Other native birds would also benefit, such as the falcon, which is more common at Coronet Peak.

Orr-Walker said birds at the skifields tended not to hang around people as they did in other areas, such as Mt Aspiring National Park, where they would fly toward people at huts.

That may be because of heavy culling in the area over 150 years when the Government paid hunters a bounty for killing kea. The birds were known for attacking sheep in high country areas.

More than 150,000 kea were killed under the bounty.

As recently as 2009 a permit to hunt kea was granted in the Wakatipu area, she said.

The birds were also at risk from predators including stoats, possums, feral cars and rats and from lead poisoning. A major source of lead poisoning in the high country was thought to be lead pellets used by the Department of Conservation when culling tahr. That practice was stopped this year.

There were slow signs of kea returning to the area, Orr-Walker said.

This week, a woman who had lived near Arrowtown for 40 years had taken a photo of a kea inside her chicken coop.

'She was amazed. It's quite exciting.'

NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson said he often saw the four kea at the Remarkables in the early evening, about 6.30pm.

'It's a real highlight at the end of the day….They're cheeky. They sit on the car and watch you.'

The commitment was an important step in the company's conservation efforts, he said.

They were already involved in weed and pest control to protect the biodiversity at each ski area but wanted to take on another long-term project.

'This is a great way of directing all our efforts into a single focus which is keeping our precious native birds here and helping sustain their habitat for future generations – theirs and ours.'

Signage panels will also be created ahead of The Remarkables' 2019 ski season, designed to educate visitors on kea, and raise awareness about their survival threat.

Over summer, trapping lines will be set at the ski fields to protect from predators such as stoats and possums.