A takahē explores the Tautari Wetland at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari
Nancy the South Island takahē has taken the unusual step of renesting after producing a chick at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari this season.
Her activities have resulted in staff restricting access to the maunga’s Tautari Wetland, in the hope she will produce a second chick with her partner Hemi from her second nest.
Their first chick is one of three of the vulnerable species hatched at Maungatautari this season. The other two were hatched by the mountain’s second breeding pair Puiaki and Pirie.
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari chief executive Helen Hughes said Nancy’s re-nesting was unusual, as takahē breed annually.
“It’s exciting,” Hughes said. “It’s testament to the hard work that we do her that we are able to see growth rates of what had been through to be a previously extinct species.”
Takahē were presumed extinct for 50 years before being rediscovered in 1948.
Their numbers were at 528 at the last count.
“It really is a team effort,” Hughes added, acknowledging iwi and the Department of Conservation takahē Recovery Team who partner with the maunga team.
Visitor experience and sales manager Tali Jellyman said of the 528 takahē currently in existence, 24 have been bred on the mountain, and this season’s trio would make the total 531 with 27 bred of Maungatautari.
Adults weigh between and up to 3.5kgs – they are the largest living flightless species of rail in the world.
