Secretary IslandSecretary Island, at the mouth of Doubtful Sound, is over 8000 ha and is essentially predator-free. The island has no rats, mice, or possums and a programme to remove stoats from the island commenced in 2005. There are thought to be fewer than 10 stoats left on the island. Deer are also in extremely low numbers on Secretary Island due to efforts by the Department to remove them. Plant species that deer like to browse, like tree fuchsia, are also are important to kokako. These species are flourishing now that the deer numbers are low. How are kokako captured?Large mist nets (very fine mesh nets) are suspended high up in the forest canopy in known kokako territories. Kokako calls are played to birds using a speaker system and the birds are attracted to the calls and fly into the nets. It is very labour intensive requiring early mornings and late afternoons and evenings and can take days to capture a single bird. | Status of South Island kokako:South Island kokako were present in Fiordland at the time of European settlement, but probably died out around the 1960s. We cannot be certain that the South Island kokako was historically present on Secretary Island itself, however it is very likely, and they would have certainly been present on the adjacent mainland. Being a large and formerly abundant fruit-eater and seed disperser, South Island kokako would have been an important part of the forest community. Details of kokako transfer to Secretary Island 2008:The first cohort of kokako was transferred to Secretary Island from Mapara Reserve, Te Kuiti in October 2008. Ten kokako were released in total, six females and four males. Six birds were released on Secretary Island wearing back-pack transmitters. One male has since been found dead, preyed on by a falcon. The other five birds wearing transmitters survived the initial phase of establishment on Secretary Island. One of the other transmitter birds was located last at the end of February and the other four were located in May/June 2009. |
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