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After a court battle and a controversial 1080 drop last year, Kōkako’s haunting calls are returning to Hunua Ranges
Normally the fight to keep Hunua's kōkako alive is waged in native bush. Last year its fate was fought for in an Auckland courtroom.
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The Department of Conservation is attributing the reduction of rat numbers in the Mokaihaha Ecological Area, southwest of Rotorua, to a three-tonne 1080 aerial drop.
1080 is being credited with a breakthrough in the conservation of kokako in Auckland's Hunua Ranges.
For the first time ever, a pair of kokako have been nesting outside Hunua's intensively managed kōkako conservation area. It follows Auckland Council's two 1080 drops over 21,500 hectares of conservation and forest land in the Hunua Ranges in August and September. The loss of our native birds from the wild has been revealed in its full extent for the first time, with a bleak and sweeping stock-take showing major hits for most endemic species.
But keeping our birds in large numbers can be achieved for a realistic price, says the Landcare Research scientist who has presented the startling figures to top ecologists. A comparison of monitoring data, collected over periods in the 1970s and early 2000s, showed significant falls in well-known species such as brown kiwi, kokako, kaka, rifleman, tomtit and blue duck, or whio. View original story from Jamie Morton, NZ Herald here New Zealand Herald
Dog-owners will be discouraged from taking their pets into Auckland's Hunua Ranges for at least four months after a major drop of 1080 poison began today. Watercare has taken two of its four Hunua supply dams out of service until they receive a clean bill of health, and three regional parks have been closed to the public for five days. For all you need to know on the Hunua Ranges 1080 operation click here. Radio New Zealand
The drop is part of a strategy will target a plague of rats and possums threatening native species in the ranges. It will be made in three stages over two weeks, starting today with non-toxic bait to get the pests used to it, and the poison will follow in about a week. Auckland Council said a total of about 50 tonnes of bait would be dropped over 21,500 hectares. Listen to the bulletin on Radio New Zealand here Manukau Courier
Auckland Council has approved the aerial use of 1080 in the Hunua Ranges. The drops will begin in mid-2015 and will cover 1100 hectares, 6.5 per cent of the Ranges. Helicopters will drop 5kg of pellets per hectare which contain a total of 7.5g of 1080.Councillors Cathy Casey and Mike Lee voted against the decision.The main reasons cited for the drops were to protect native birds such as kokako from stoats, rats and possums. |
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