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Green Island (Papatea) – 1941 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 8)

8 January 2013 – 11.19am

Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly is researching the life and work of the Canterbury naturalist Edgar Stead (1881-1949). This includes re-taking Stead’s photos from the same photo-point, taking other images to illustrate his diaries, and describing how the ecology and wildlife of each of 10 islands has changed since Stead’s visits.

Of all the islands that Edgar Stead visited, and for which his diaries exist, Green Island in eastern Foveaux Strait is the least well known. Green Island lies to the east of Ruapuke Island, and should not be confused with the much smaller homonymous Green Island near Dunedin. All the Ruapuke Island group are privately owned, mainly by descendants of the Kai Tahu chief Tuhawaiki. Some of the owners have huts on Green Island and harvest muttonbirds / titi (chicks of the sooty shearwater) each year. We were privileged to be granted access to the island, and were accompanied by two of the island’s owners during our 10 hours ashore.

Green Island from the south-west. Image: Colin Miskelly

It is not clear what motivated Stead to visit Green Island, other than the hope of finding rare birds on a ‘new’ island. He and his companions (Robert Wilson and Percy Elworthy) discovered that the island was free of introduced predators apart from weka, and this remains the case today. Birdlife was and is abundant, but there have been some notable changes over the ensuing 71 years.

Muttonbirding hut in Ruapuke Island, with Ruapuke Island in the background. Upper image taken by Edgar Stead in 1941 (courtesy of Canterbury Museum 2001_59_319); lower image by Colin Miskelly

Muttonbirding hut on Green Island, with Ruapuke Island in the background. Upper image taken by Edgar Stead in 1941 (courtesy of Canterbury Museum 2001_59_319); lower image by Colin Miskelly

Stead and Wilson estimated there to be 1.5 million pairs of fairy prions / titiwainui and broad-billed prions / parara breeding on the island in 1941, but we saw little evidence of them in 2012. They are both still present, but clearly in much reduced numbers. It is not clear why the population has crashed, as the weka population does not appear large enough to have caused such a massive decline. Perhaps the decline has been driven by at-sea conditions, rather than by conditions on the island.

Dark morph weka on Green Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

Another species that has declined or disappeared on the island since 1941 is the southern skua, which should be the top predator on the island. About 10 pairs were present and breeding in 1941, but we saw none and found none of their distinctive middens of seabird remains.

Flowering southern rata and Stewart Island tree-groundsel (Brachyglottis stewartiae) on Green Island, December 2012. Images: Colin Miskelly

The landbirds on the island were much as Stead found them, with the brown creeper the most abundant species, and bellbird, tomtit and robin all being common. We also found tui to be numerous, probably attracted by the spectacular flowering of southern rata.

Brown creeper on Green Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

We recorded over 20 New Zealand pigeons / kereru – a species not recorded by Stead. They are strong flyers and could easily cross the 2 km from Ruapuke Island. More surprising was that we found fernbirds to be common, when Stead specifically noted their absence. In 1941, fernbirds were found only on Bird island 3 km west of Ruapuke Island. Usually considered poor flyers and unlikely to cross water gaps, these furtive birds have apparently colonised both Ruapuke and Green Islands since Stead’s visit.

Fernbird photographed on Ruapuke Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

One feature of the island that has not changed since Stead’s time was the abundance of geckos around the dwellings. We also saw several common skinks, but failed to find the green geckos reported from the island.

Geckos (Woodworthia ‘Otago large’) on Green Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

The only seal species that Stead and his companions noted in 1941 was a single male sea lion. We did not see any sea lions, but there are now several hundred fur seals breeding on the island.

New Zealand fur seal cows and pups on Green Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Field trips, Mammals, Reptiles | Also tagged brown creeper, fernbird, fur seal, weka | Comments (8)

Pukeokaoka / Jacky Lee Island – 1932 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 7)

27 March 2012 – 9.48am

Jacky Lee Island (Pukeokaoka) is one of a cluster of islands lying off the north-east coast of Rakiura / Stewart Island. Edgar Stead became interested in the island after studying snipe on Big South Cape Island in 1931. Jacky Lee Island was the only other island off Stewart Island where snipe were known to occur; they had been seen there by John McLean and Herbert Guthrie-Smith in 1911.

The landing bay on the south side of Jacky Lee Island in 1932 and 2012, viewed from near the hut site (the hut is now derelict). Top image: Edgar Stead photograph 2001.59.382, Macmillan collection, Canterbury Museum. Below photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Unfortunately, weka had been introduced to Jacky Lee Island since McLean & Guthrie-Smith’s visit. Weka were abundant when Edgar Stead and Major Robert Wilson stayed on Jacky Lee Island in December 1932, as they were 79 years later when I visited. Weka predation caused the extirpation of snipe, mioweka (banded rail) and fernbird from Jacky Lee Island, and also huge reductions (if not extirpation) in populations of broad-billed prions, fairy prions and common diving petrels.

A weka fossicking among tidewrack on the shoreline of Jacky Lee Island, March 2012. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Stead found other bird species to attract his attention on Jacky Lee Island, particularly the abundant population of brown creepers (pipipi). Brown creepers are the main host of the long-tailed cuckoo in the South Island and Stewart Island, and Stead & Wilson found several brown creeper nests containing long-tailed cuckoo eggs and chicks. As a result, Stead was able to sort out long-standing confusion over what the egg of the long-tailed cuckoo looked like. This confusion resulted from Walter Buller having been given a pullet’s egg that was reported to be a cuckoo egg – possibly as a deliberate hoax.

A brown creeper on Jacky Lee Island, March 2012. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

My visit to Jacky Lee Island was approved by the Rakiura Titi Islands Administering Body, with boat support provided by the Department of Conservation. Together they were assessing the feasibility of eradicating weka from the island.

The Maori name for Jacky Lee Island – Pukeokaoka – means ‘hill of stinging nettle’. The name is apt! As in Stead’s time, the island’s vegetation is a horrible tangle of tree nettle, Muehlenbeckia vine, bush lawyer and supplejack. I concur with Major Wilson’s observation that “it [is] the worst bush to get through of any island we have been on”.

A tangle of ongaonga (tree nettle) and pohuehue (Muehlenbeckia vine) on Jacky Lee Island, March 2012. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips | Also tagged muttonbird islands, snipe, weka | Comments (9)

Taukihepa / Big South Cape Island – 1931 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 6)

27 March 2012 – 8.41am

During their November-December 1931 stay on Rerewhakaupoko (Solomon Island), Edgar Stead and his companions used a small boat to visit nearby Big South Cape Island (Taukihepa) whenever sea conditions allowed. Taukihepa is the largest of the muttonbird islands at 939 ha, and lies off the south-west coast of Stewart Island.

Rerewhakaupoko (Solomon Island) at rear, and Pukeweka Island viewed from the tops of Taukihepa (Big South Cape Island). Top image taken in 1931 (Edgar Stead photograph 2001.59.380, Macmillan collection, Canterbury Museum), lower image in 2012 (photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa). Stead and companions stayed in one of the cluster of huts visible near the south coast of Rerewhakaupoko.

The main attraction for Stead and companions on Taukihepa was the snipe breeding among the low ‘pakihi’ heathland vegetation on the tops of the island. There were no snipe on Rerewhakaupoko. It was my long-term research on New Zealand snipes (genus Coenocorypha) that led to the discovery of Edgar Stead’s long lost diaries in Canterbury Museum in 2006.

Stead’s diaries had been in the private collection of Dr David Macmillan (who was related to Stead through their wives being cousins). Macmillan intended writing a biography of his famous friend and relative, but this was never published. Macmillan himself died in 1983, but his archive (including excised pages from Stead’s diaries, and many of Stead’s photographs) were not donated to Canterbury Museum until 2001, when his daughters sold the family home.

Putauhinu Island viewed from the summit of Taukihepa. Edgar Stead studied the now extinct South Island snipe breeding among the stunted manuka and inaka on the tops of Taukihepa in 1931. Snares Island snipe were successfully introduced to Putauhinu Island in 2005. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The South Island snipe (also known as the Stewart Island snipe) was one of the species that became extinct when ship rats invaded Taukihepa and adjacent islands in 1964. The last two birds died during an unsuccessful rescue attempt in August-September 1964, and are now in the Te Papa collection.

South Island snipe at its nest on the tops of Taukihepa, December 1931. Edgar Stead photograph 2010.75.158, Canterbury Museum

The closely related Snares Island snipe was successfully translocated to Putauhinu Island 1.4 km north-west of Taukihepa in April 2005. This was the first deliberate replacement of an extinct New Zealand bird with a near relative. A survey of Putauhinu Island in March 2011 revealed that snipe were thriving, with over 300 birds present.

A Snares Island snipe on Putauhinu Island in March 2012. Photo: Ray Moss

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips | Also tagged muttonbird islands, snipe | Comments (9)

Rerewhakaupoko / Solomon Island – 1931 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 5)

26 March 2012 – 5.28pm

The second muttonbird island that Edgar Stead and companions stayed on was Solomon Island (Rerewhakaupoko), just north of Big South Cape Island (Taukihepa), off the south-west coast of Stewart Island. Stead landed on Solomon Island for a few hours the day after leaving Kundy Island in December 1929, discovering saddlebacks and bush wrens to be present, among other wildlife treasures. He resolved to return to make more detailed studies.

Putauhinu Island viewed from the southwest point of Solomon Island in 1931 (above, Edgar Stead photograph 2010.75.148, Canterbury Museum) and 2012 (below, photo by Colin Miskelly, Te Papa). The third skua in Stead's photograph was standing on a rock slab that has since tipped over, changing the profile of the rock outcrop.

After making enquiries through John Morrison of Bluff, Stead was granted permission by William Leader to stay in his muttonbirding hut at Bats Cave landing on the south coast of Solomon Island. Stead and his companions Major Robert Wilson and Sir John Hanham arrived on the island on 10 November 1931; Stead & Wilson stayed until 14 December, with Hanham replaced by Eb Hay for the last 10 days.

Top image - Edgar Stead and Sir John Hanham outside William Leader's hut on Solomon Island, November 1931 (Edgar Stead photograph 2001.59.425, Macmillan Collection, Canterbury Museum). Bottom image - the remains of William Leader's hut in March 2012 (photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa)

The main bird species studied by Stead and his companions on Solomon Island were South Island saddleback, bush wren (which Stead described as a new subspecies in 1936), Stewart Island robin and Stewart Island fernbird. All these species were extirpated by ship rats that invaded Solomon, Big South Cape and Pukeweka Islands in 1964. The robin and fernbird survived on other muttonbird islands (as well as at a few places on Stewart Island itself). Wildlife Service personnel succeeded in rescuing South Island saddlebacks by translocating them from Big South Cape Island to other rat-free islands. An attempt to rescue the bush wren failed, and it is now extinct.

Bush wren on Solomon Island, November 1931 (Edgar Stead photograph 2001.59.20, Macmillan Collection, Canterbury Museum)

From 1964 to 2006, Solomon Island was an avian desert, with voracious ship rats preventing successful breeding or recolonisation by many bird species. The rats were eradicated in 2006, leading to a remarkable recovery in bird life. Tui, bellbirds, tomtits and yellow-crowned parakeets are now abundant there. Robins recolonised within a year of rat eradication, and are now as abundant and tame as in Stead’s time.

Stewart Island robin on Solomon Island, March 2012. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

South Island saddlebacks were reintroduced to Solomon Island on 20 March 2012 in a joint Rakiura Titi Committee / Department of Conservation translocation, when 8 birds were moved from Pohowaitai Island. Stead’s 1931 saddleback studies were focussed on confirming that the brown-plumaged ‘jackbird’ was the juvenile plumage of the strikingly-patterned South Island saddleback. In contrast, the otherwise similar North Island saddleback does not have a distinct juvenile plumage, a fact that Stead confirmed on a visit to Hen Island (Taranga) 2 years later.

My visit to Rerewhakaupoko in March 2012 was supported by the Rakiura Titi Committee, the Heaslip whanau and the Austin whanau, and I was generously hosted by the Heaslips. It was a great privilege to see adult saddlebacks and jackbirds back on Solomon Island 80 years after Stead had seen the same, and to share this magical experience with my hosts.

Jackbird (juvenile South Island saddleback - on left) and adult South Saddleback photographed 3 days after they were re-introduced to Solomon Island, March 2012. Photos: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

One of the other bird species that Stead encountered on Solomon Island was the broad-billed prion (parara). This species suffered enormous mortality in a severe storm in July 2011, with hundreds of thousands of birds killed. Numbers were much reduced on Solomon Island in 2012 compared to previous years, according to my hosts. I saw seven parara, and was able to collect feather samples from five birds to allow genetic comparisons with birds washed up on North Island beaches, and held by Te Papa.

Broad-billed prion (parara) on Solomon Island, March 2012. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips | Also tagged broad-billed prion, bush wren, robin, saddleback | Comments (10)

Whenua Hou / Codfish Island – 1934 and 2011 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 4)

13 December 2011 – 11.30am

As part of a project to publish the wildlife diaries of Edgar Stead, I am revisiting some of the islands that Stead camped on during the period 1929-1947. The main focus is describing how the ecology of the islands has changed since Stead’s time. The visits also provide an opportunity to take photographs to illustrate the diaries.

Stead and his companions Major Robert Wilson and Percy Elworthy were the first naturalists to visit 1400 ha Codfish Island, north-west of Stewart Island. They camped at the western end of Sealers Bay 20 Dec 1934 to 7 Jan 1935, and used a small boat to explore the island and its offshore islets.

Edgar Stead's 1934-35 camp on Codfish Island. Photo: Edgar Stead. Macmillan collection, 2001.59.116, Canterbury Museum. Permission of Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Location of Edgar Stead's 1934-35 campsite on Codfish Island (the end of Sealers Bay is visible at lower right). Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa, December 2011

The major discovery of their expedition was that Codfish Island was a breeding site for Cook’s petrel, otherwise known only from Little Barrier Island 1200 km to the north. Stead estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Cook’s petrels to be on the island, and noted that they were being killed by weka (a predatory rail native to mainland New Zealand, but introduced to Codfish Island). By the late 1970s, Cook’s petrels were approaching extinction on Codfish Island, prompting the Wildlife Service to eradicate weka, along with brush-tailed possums which had been introduced from Australia for fur-trapping.

Cook's petrel at burrow entrance at night, Codfish Island. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa, December 2011

Edgar Stead also noticed that the fernbirds on Codfish Island were darker than those on other islands off Stewart Island. In 1936 he named the Codfish Island fernbird Bowdleria punctata wilsoni in honour of his friend and companion.

Codfish Island fernbird exiting nest among cocksfoot, Sealers Bay, Codfish Island. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa, December 2011

Codfish Island is famous as the most important site for the kakapo recovery programme. It is a strictly controlled nature reserve, and I am grateful to the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the Whenua Hou Advisory Committee for granting me the privilege to visit. My five companions on the island were all DOC staff or volunteers working with kakapo. These critically endangered flightless parrots were transferred from Stewart Island (where they were being killed by feral cats) to Codfish Island from 1987 onwards.

Kakapo at night on Codfish Island. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa, December 2011

Further information on the wildlife of Codfish Island is posted on
http://www.birdingnz.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1516
and
http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2011/12/13/riders-of-the-storm-the-severely-depleted-next-generation/

By Colin Miskelly, Curator Terrestrial Vertebrates

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips | Also tagged Codfish Island, Cook's petrel, fernbird, kakapo, kakapo recovery programme | Comments (10)

Kundy Island – 1929 and 2011 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 3)

11 April 2011 – 9.16am

As part of a project to publish the wildlife diaries of Edgar Stead (see blogs of 15 December 2010 and 18 January 2010), I am revisiting some of the islands that Stead camped on during the period 1929-1947. The main focus is describing how the ecology of the islands has changed since Stead’s time. The visits also provide an opportunity to take photographs to illustrate the diaries.

Kundy Island from the north-west, with southern Stewart Island beyond. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

Stead first took a serious interest in the birds of New Zealand’s offshore islands in 1929, and Kundy Island (a muttonbird island off the south-west coast of Stewart Island) was the first island that he stayed on for an extended period, 12 November to 4 December 1929. Stead’s companions on the trip were Eb Hay and Tom McKellar till 26 November, then Major Robert Wilson and Dr John Guthrie; they stayed in a muttonbirding hut belonging to John Morrison of Bluff.

Three jackbirds (juvenile South Island saddlebacks) and a male bellbird at a feed-table beside the Trows’ hut, Kundy Island. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

During my visit over 81 years later I was hosted by John Morrison’s grandson Russel Trow (and his wife Teresa), whose hut is placed on the exact location as Russel’s grandfather’s.

Cloudy gecko, Kundy Island. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

Weka (large flightless, predatory rails) were introduced to Kundy Island by the muttonbirders after Stead’s visit, and they eventually extirpated at least three bird species (white-faced storm petrel, banded rail and Stewart Island fernbird), plus caused huge declines in cloudy geckos (Mokopirirakau nebulosus) and Foveaux giant weta (Deinacrida carinata). The weka were eradicated by the New Zealand Wildlife Service in 1985, allowing reintroduction of fernbirds in 1995 and banded rails (known locally as mioweka) in 1999. Kundy had previously (1978) been used as a rescue site for South Island saddleback after their final stronghold was invaded by ship rats in the 1960s.

Landing cove on Kundy Island, November 1929. Photo: Edgar Stead. Macmillan collection, 2001.59.295, Canterbury Museum. Permission of Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Cloudy geckos have also recovered on Kundy (I saw ten in 2 days ashore), and I also saw one southern skink Oligosoma notosaurus, apparently a new record for the island. The single white-faced storm petrel photographed was the first seen since weka were eradicated, and was possibly a visitor from another nearby island.

Landing cove on Kundy Island, March 2011. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

By Colin Miskelly, Curator Terrestrial Vertebrates

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips, Reptiles | Also tagged Kundy Island, muttonbird islands | Comments (10)

Nukuwaiata / Inner Chetwode Island – 1936 and 2011 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 2)

18 January 2011 – 3.06pm

As part of a project to publish the wildlife diaries of Edgar Stead (see blog of 15 December 2010), I am revisiting some of the islands that Stead camped on during the period 1929-1947. The main focus is describing how the ecology of the islands has changed since Stead’s time. The visits also provide an opportunity to take photographs to illustrate the diaries.

1. Nukuwaiata (Inner Chetwode Island), with the outer Marlborough Sounds in the distance.

Nukuwaiata (Inner Chetwode Island), with the outer Marlborough Sounds in the distance. Photograph reproduced courtesy of Colin Miskelly.

Stead camped on Nukuwaiata, at the outer entrance to Pelorus Sound, with his wife and son, and companion Major Robert Wilson for 10 days in January 1936. Stead and Wilson had also previously visited in 1926.

2. The first and second forest geckos recorded from Nukuwaiata, January 2011

The first and second forest geckos recorded from Nukuwaiata, January 2011. Reproduced courtesy of Colin Miskelly

We stayed on Nukuwaiata Nature Reserve (with permission from the Department of Conservation) for two nights in January 2011, and noticed some dramatic changes since my previous visit in April 1993. Pacific rats and weka (both introduced to the island) were eradicated by DOC later in 1993, allowing remnant lizard populations to recover. Stead noted “We saw no lizzards of any sort” in 1936, whereas we saw over 30 lizards of four species, including the first records of forest geckos from the island.

A young falcon checks out the photographer, January 2011. Reproduced courtesy of Colin Miskelly

Another dramatic change was that the 242 ha island’s bird population had recovered sufficiently to support a top predator. New Zealand falcons had recolonised, and a pair had successfully raised three young to the flying stage. These were curious about the new intruders on their domain, and occasionally broke off from their dogfights to check us out.

Camp robin, January 2011. Reproduced courtesy of Colin Miskelly.

One thing that had not changed was the tameness of the South Island robins. Stead wrote “Our most constant visitor is a cock bird…He sits on our coats and hats, on the billies or frypan, and even on the crossbar of the fireplace when the fire is on”.

Left: Edgar Stead, Dot Stead and Roland Stead, possibly on Nukuwaiata in 1936 (when Roland was 13 years old). Right: Colin Miskelly, Kate McAlpine and Kieran Miskelly (age 13) on Nukuwaiata in 2011. Right: Colin Miskelly, Kate McAlpine and Kieran Miskelly (age 13) on Nukuwaiata in 2011. Photo: Liam Miskelly.

Left: Edgar Stead, Dot Stead and Roland Stead, possibly on Nukuwaiata in 1936 (when Roland was 13 years old). Photo: Edgar Stead. Macmillan collection, 2001.59.381, Canterbury Museum. Permission of Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image. Right: Colin Miskelly, Kate McAlpine and Kieran Miskelly (age 13) on Nukuwaiata in 2011. Photo: Liam Miskelly.

By Colin Miskelly, Curator Terrestrial Vertebrates

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips, Reptiles | Also tagged conservation, nukuwaiata, pelorus sound, wildlife | Comments (9)

Taranga / Hen Island – 1933 and 2010 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 1)

15 December 2010 – 7.43am

Edgar Stead (1881-1949) was a Canterbury naturalist famous (among other things) for exhuming the enormous Okarito blue whale skeleton now in Canterbury Museum, breeding the Ilam strain of rhododendrons and azaleas, and being an astute observer of New Zealand birds. His magnificent homestead ‘Ilam’ is now the Canterbury University staff club, and was the main set for Peter Jackson’s film ‘Heavenly Creatures’ (as the Hulme family lived there after the property was sold to University of Canterbury).

1. Roland Stead fishing in Dragon Mouth Cove, Hen Island, December 1933. Photo: Edgar Stead. Macmillan collection, 2001.59.381, Canterbury Museum. Permission of Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

2. Colin Miskelly in Dragon Mouth Cove, Hen Island, December 2010. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

Stead and his companion Major Robert Wilson visited Hen Island, off Whangarei, for 6 weeks in Nov-Dec 1933. They were joined for the second half of the trip by Stead’s wife Dot and their 11-year-old son Roland. The main purpose of their trip was to describe the juvenile plumage of the North Island saddleback, a species then confined to 500 ha Hen Island. North Island saddlebacks have since been translocated successfully to a dozen other islands plus Karori Sanctuary.

3. Pycroft’s petrel, Hen Island, December 2010. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

Other species studied by Stead on the island included the (then) recently described Pycroft’s petrel, kaka, kereru (New Zealand pigeon), tuatara, Duvaucel’s gecko and the egg-laying skink.

4. Tuatara, Hen Island, December 2010. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

Stead published several short scientific papers after his visit, including one on the ‘Maori rat’ (also known as Pacific rat or kiore). The Department of Conservation administers Taranga / Hen Island as a Nature Reserve. In 2011 the Department intends to eradicate kiore from Taranga, freeing it of introduced mammals. This action is supported by Ngatiwai as tangata whenua, who have DOC’s agreement to maintain a population of kiore on nearby Mauitaha Island. Kiore are regarded as a taonga species by Ngatiwai, but have had severe impacts on many species on Taranga including tuatara, most lizards, and large land snails (Paryphanta and Amborhytida).

5. Rat-eaten Amborhytida tarangaensis snail, Hen Island, December 2010. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

By Colin Miskelly, Curator Terrestrial Vertebrates

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips, Reptiles, Whales | Also tagged Hen Island, petrel, Taranga, tuatara | Comments (12)

Te Papa's Blog

Tag Archives: edgar stead

Green Island (Papatea) – 1941 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 8)

Pukeokaoka / Jacky Lee Island – 1932 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 7)

Taukihepa / Big South Cape Island – 1931 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 6)

Rerewhakaupoko / Solomon Island – 1931 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 5)

Whenua Hou / Codfish Island – 1934 and 2011 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 4)

Kundy Island – 1929 and 2011 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 3)

Nukuwaiata / Inner Chetwode Island – 1936 and 2011 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 2)

Taranga / Hen Island – 1933 and 2010 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 1)

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