Our Changing World: Backcountry takahē make a comeback

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Three people crouched in a shrubby tussockland next to meshed boxes with doors open, smiling as large blue birds with red beaks walk out of the boxes into the surroundings.

Chrissy (left) and others releasing takahē into the Rees Valley. Photo: Lisa van Beek.

In Shelter Rock Hut,near the head of the Rees Valley, the visitor book comment section is sprinkled with excited notes about bird sightings.

Twice believed to be extinct, takahē, the ultimate comeback bird, are now being spotted in the wild by backcountry trampers in the upper Whakatipu.

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Bringing the birds back

It was 1948 when takahē were rediscovered for the second time by Dr Geoffrey Orbell's party in the remote Murchison Mountains.

Two big round blue birds with red feet, big red beaks, and olive green wings, standing among grasses.

Takahē. Photo: Gareth Jones / Southern Lakes Sanctuary.

With only a small population remaining, intensive management of the birds was deemed necessary. In the 1980s, Burwood Takahē Centre was created to manage breeding and chick rearing. 'Security populations' were established on offshore predator-free islands. A Specially Protected Area was created in the Murchison Mountains to protect the remaining wild population, with access by permit only.

The hard work of DOC's takahē recovery team paid off, though not without a few setbacks along the way. The takahē population grew, hitting an estimated 300 in 2016. In 2018, takahē were reintroduced to Kahurangi National Park with the hope of establishing a second wild population. Things didn't go perfectly to plan, with a spate of bird deaths in the second year after release, and concerns about the suitability of the habitat.

In 2023, the population hit 500 birds, and in August, 18 takahē were released on to Ngāi Tahu land at Greenstone Station in the Upper Whakatipu, to set up a third wild population.

After two promising active breeding seasons, the birds took a bit of a hit earlier this year, with five thought to be killed by just one or two stoats. But after a step-up in trapping effort, it's believed the culprits have been caught.

The neck of a large blue bird peeking out of long brown dry grass. The bird has a chunky red beak.

Takahē. Photo: © Samuel Purdie

Return to the Rees

A few valleys over from the Greenstone, the braids of the Rees River ribbon their way from the high alpine head to feed into Lake Whakatipu at Glenorchy. With a mixture of introduced grasses, beech forest edges, and alpine tussock, it is hoped this valley will prove to be good takahē country.

Fifty-one birds have been released since February this year. There have been two mortalities - but neither are thought to have been due to predation.

Three people walking across uneven tussockland carrying large boxes that contain takahē. In the background, clouds creep over the edge of snowy mountains.

Takahē release in Rees Valley. Photo: Samuel Purdie / Southern Lakes Sanctuary

One bird, named Frost, caused a bit of excitement when he walked all the way from the Rees Valley into Glenorchy village, where he was found on a golf course. He was relocated back into the valley, and thankfully now seems content to stay in the backcountry.

But it's stoats rather than wanderlust that remain the biggest concern, says Chrissy Becker-Fifield.

Chrissy is part of the Glenorchy field team for Southern Lakes Sanctuary - an organisation involved with checking traps and monthly monitoring of the takahē in the Rees, alongside other roles including coordinating volunteers for local conservation group the Routeburn-Dart Wildlife Trust.

A woman with long blonde hair and a green cap holds up a plastic bag and a metal rod retrieved from the back tray of a ute. She is smiling and looking at the camera, wearing red gloves and a black puffer jacket. It's a blue cloudless sky above snow-capped mountains and a tussocked grassy valley floor.

Chrissy Becker-Fifield from the Southern Lakes Sanctuary gets ready to check and rebait traps. Photo: Claire Concannon / RNZ

Extensive trap lines had to be established before takahē could be released here. The Routeburn-Dart Wildlife Trust have long been trapping in some areas of the upper Whakatipu, as have the landowners of the Rees Valley Station. But with the work of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, the traps now extend further into the valley and across alpine saddles to connect to other trap lines in both the Dart and Matukituki valleys.

More releases are planned before the end of the year, and those involved have high hopes for the takahē's newest home.