Kiwi are coming back to Kaitake ranges in milestone achievement for Taranaki's predator free programme

Sunday, 7 February 2021

A combined community effort from Taranaki conservation groups, local authorities and school children is getting behind a predator-free project to release kiwi into the Kaitake Ranges for the first time.

Adult kiwi are soon to be re-released onto Taranaki's Kaitake ranges for the first time, prompting a warning for dog owners to keep their pets leashed around the park area.

The kiwi are to be released onto the range in about three month's time, following extensive trapping and aerial 1080 operations that have decimated rat, mustelid and possum numbers in the Kaitake and Pouakai ranges.

The re-release is a significant milestone in the Restore Kaitake campaign, undertaken as part of the Taranaki Regional Council’s Towards Predator-Free 2050 programme.

Kaitake Conservation Trust member Robbie McGregor, who helps set predator traps on the Te Papakura o Taranaki boundary, said people should be vigilant in having their pet dogs leashed during the release period.

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“It's definitely a ‘no go’ area for dogs with kiwi around,” he said.

Many people walk, bike and run on bush tracks in the Kaitake ranges, close to Oakura, sometimes taking dogs and allowing them to run free. However, dogs are not allowed in the National Park at all.

The kiwi to be released have been reared at Rotokare Scenic Reserve sanctuary, near Eltham, he said..

“It’s possible they will wander onto farmland and come into contact with dogs.”

McGregor said kiwi could be easily attacked once a dog got a whiff of their strong musky scent.

He suggested heavy fines for dog owners who take their pets for walks in the Kaitake Ranges without the dog on a leash.

McGregor said he saw a jogger with two unleashed dogs in the ranges recently.

Volunteer trust members monitor up to 400 predator traps in the Kaitake ranges, targeting rats and mustelids (stoats and weasels).

As a result, bellbird and kereru bird numbers have increased in the area and in nearby Oakura.

“We’re getting on top of the mustelids but there will always be rats, it’s a matter of controlling the numbers,” McGregor said.

“It’s a never ending task, and they are a huge problem in the ranges.

“You will never get the last one, you just try to keep the numbers down.”

The success of the trapping project has been instrumental in the decision by the Rotokare Scenic Reserve, Taranaki Mounga, Taranaki Kiwi Trust, Conservation Department, Te Ara Taiau o Kaitake, and Taranaki Regional Council to release the kiwi into the park.

Taranaki Kiwi Trust member Sian Potier said kiwi weighing more than 1.5kg will be released.

“The community will be made aware of the release and will be asked to keep their dogs under control if they are near the park boundary,” she said.

The brown kiwi is the only kiwi found in the wild in the North Island.

The flightless birds forage for food at night and are not often seen.

At night male kiwi give a repeated high-pitched rising whistle, while females emit a deeper throaty cry.