Kea Conservation Trust, New Zealand are supported by:
Kea Conservation Trust
Welcome to the Kea Conservation Trust website!
On this site you will find out information about one of New Zealands most charismatic species inclusive of current research, threats to kea and how you can make a difference.
All information is easily accessible by clicking on the pages in the menu to the left of the screen - please take your time and enjoy learning more about this fabulous species!
2012 Summer survey – Thank you to the NZ Lottery Grants Board
The Kea population survey ran between the 12th Jan – 22nd Jan at Kiwi Saddle in Kahurangi National Park, the Hawdon Valley in Arthurs Pass and the Borland Range in Fiordland. Thank you to our site coordinators, Matt Charteris, Corey Mosen and Paul van Klink and all of our experienced bird handlers and volunteers.
Preliminary results from the survey as well as photos will be posted on our Kea Research Projects - Population Research pages.
This year’s calendar features stunning photos of kea from 6 different contributors all who have their own story to tell about their experiences with this charismatic species.
As a bonus we have also included information on each of our contributors who very generously donated their images of kea for the cause of kea conservation.
We have still have copies of this excellent calendar available for purchase now at the discounted price of $8 +p/p. Orders of 10 or more calendars are available for $6 each (+p/p).
Wild Heart – The Possibility of Wilderness in Aotearoa
The Public Conservation Lands Research Symposium, hosted by the University of Otago in November not only brought together a wide range of stakeholders to explore what relationships between nature and people should be fostered in Aotearoa New Zealand, but also included the launch of the book Wild Heart: the Possibility of Wilderness in Aotearoa New Zealand. This anthology of essays is published by Otago University Press and the contributors to the book have all very kindly donated the royalties from the sale of this book equally to The Kea Conservation Trust and Forest & Bird’s Fresh water for life.
Tamsin Orr-Walker attended the book launch on behalf of the Trust and by invitation of Otago University. We would like to thank all the books contributors, editors and Otago University for their support of the work of the KCT.
In our last update we included some of your views from our Facebook page on the recent spate of kea deaths.
Unfortunately this spate appears to be continuing with two of our study birds in the Arthurs Pass area found dead under suspicious circumstances. Unfortunately the bodies were too decomposed when recovered to ascertain the cause of death but it does highlight the need for all of us to keep our eyes and ears open to protect these unique birds.
In this update we have included this letter from one of our earliest supporters based in Australia who provides a sobering reminder of how persecution of a species can result in their ultimate extinction:
Hello everyone at the KCT,
I'd like to say how distressed I am to learn in the October KCT of the kea shootings. Glad to know that you're helping to conserve them.Honestly, I fail completely to understand how anybody could contemplate killing a rare, precious, noble and engaging creature such as the kea. I can only assume that somebody has developed a grudge against them — perhaps economically based — and won't rest until he has destroyed enough of them to feel vindicated.This is the same mentality that saw the thylacine driven into extinction, the mentality that sees a place on this planet only for humans, a few selected food animals and a few selected food plants. Everything else is expendable; all damage is merely collateral; extinctions don't matter.Please keep up your good work. The world needs it.
A kea will be returned to the wild today after being nursed back to health from a bout of blood poisoning. George, a four-year-old kea, was found vomiting early last month by Conservation Department ranger Paddy Moran near Arthur's Pass.
Moran contacted Christchurch vet Pauline Howard, who took care of the bird at the Hornby Veterinary Centre.
Tests showed possible kidney damage, and blood sent to Massey University showed George's lead levels were off the chart.
The bird was kept in the veterinary centre during the day. At night he stayed in Howard's bathroom, which was now "a little worse for wear".
"Everyone at the centre became very capable kea holders, and so did Peter, my husband, and Andrew, my 18-year-old son," she said.
"Because Peter was bitten, he had the privilege of naming the kea George."
George the kea at the vets
Photo: Don ScottLead paint, nails, roof lashings or discarded batteries were possible sources of the poisoning.
"Young male birds are at greatest risk of lead poisoning as they congregate in areas were humans live and play in the high country – places where lead is most likely to be available," Howard said.
2012 Nestor notabilis newsletter – Calling for Contributors and sponsors
The 2011 Kea Conservation Trust publication has been sent out to all of our members and funders. Thank you to all of those of you who contributed to the development of this magazine and to our sponsors, Paradigm printing and Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund for making significant donations towards this year’s publication.
2012 - We will be beginning the development stage of the 2012 magazine during January so are now calling for:
Article contributions - If you have a story or are undertaking a research project on kea please contact us;
Sponsors – we need new sponsors to help cover the costs of this publication. Sponsors will be listed in the contents page of the newsletter, on our website and in all promotional information and bi-monthly updates (sent out to over 500 people here and overseas)
If you would like to help out towards next year’s newsletter, please contact us at the KCT.
Our three nests at Nelson Lakes have been closely monitored all season by Corey Mosen with the help of keen volunteers and St Arnaud Department of Conservation.
At the start of the season all three nests were incubating at least 3 eggs. One of these nests has successfully raised 3 chicks and another has one chick still present in the nest cavity. Both nests will be monitored until all chicks are fledged in December/January to track their success. If all 4 chicks fledge this season, this will double the number successfully raised in any of the last 3 breeding seasons.
Eggs in the third nest have not yet hatched and workers have now removed one of these to check fertility.
If the eggs are found to be infertile, they will be removed in the hope that the female will lay a second clutch of viable eggs before the end of the breeding season.
Arthurs Pass:
Unfortunately 4 of our radio tagged birds at our survey site in Arthurs Pass have died. Two of these were an existing breeding pair whose deaths occurred at the same time and are considered suspicious. This has meant a big setback for this year’s breeding.
For more photos of chicks and eggs, visit our Kea Research Projects – Nest monitoring page over the next couple of weeks.
We would like to extend a big vote of thanks to the following individuals and organisations for supporting kea over the last 2 months:
Rocky Mountain American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK) US$2000 was raised at the AAZK comedy night for the Kea Conservation Trust. Thanks to the organisation and in particular to Jessica Meehan of Denver Zoo who helped make this a reality
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens –Another generous donation has been received from a US zoo; US $3,000 was granted by the organisations Conservation fund for the purpose of purchasing kea radio transmitters for our 2012 Summer survey. Thank you to Cincinnati for support of this project.
NZ Community Post – This year we have received 300 freepost envelopes to support our project work. Thank you to NZ Post.
New members Rebecca Officer and Volker Kuhlmann donated $175 during October. Thank you for your generous support – it’s always great to have individuals helping
Forest & Bird North Canterbury Branch – A donation of $200 was received from F&B Nth Canterbury during our visit to Christchurch in July. Thank you to all the team there for their support of kea during what has been a very trying time for Cantabrians
The Remarkables ski area – raised $101 from a donation box up set up by staff at the Remarkables ski field this season. Additional awareness was also raised with information on the Trust and kea at the site. Thank you to the Remarkables for pushing kea conservation at their ski field
All of our sponsors and donors will receive one of our new certificates of appreciation featuring stunning images of wild kea taken by Corey Mosen. Thank you to Corey for allowing us to use his great images!
2012 Membership - (1st April 2011 - 31st March 2012)
Help us to continue helping kea by becoming a member of the Kea Conservation Trust! Your membership will help us with our running costs and provide support to help secure funding.
All members will recieve the following:
A 10% discount on any shop items
Access to our members only areas on the website (with full access to past updates, annual newsletters and discussion pages)
A copy of our full colour Annual newsletter (sent out to all current members each June).
If you would like to renew your membership or join up as a new member for the 2011- 2012 period, please visit our Support Us - Join Nowpage. If you are unsure as to your status, you may visit our Support Us - Members page to check or contact us via the contact details in the Menu.
The Kea Conservation Trust bi-monthly updates are sent out free to everyone interested in kea. Our updates are loaded with kea information, research, sightings and photos and are sent out on the 1st of every second month (February, April, June, August, October and December each year).
Members are also available to view all past updates (loaded onto our members only pages on this website).
If you would like to start receiving these updates, please contact us at the Trust and we will add you to our contacts list.
Check out our great new video produced by Roland Kahurangi. This short video highlights issues facing kea and showcases some of the work that we do here at the KCT in collaboration with the Department of Conservation, university researchers, zoos and local communities. With beautiful footage of kea flying in the mountains and fascinating video of researchers working with birds, this is a must see!
This page has a variety of links (inclusive of BBC series links), resources, and information on the broader human impacts on our planet which is updated on a regular basis.
These impacts affect all biodiversity on our planet and impact on fragile ecosytems such as alpine environments that species such as kea rely on to survive.
Well worth a look!
December Updates:
Read about The impact of ecological limits on population growth (Robert Engelman Oct 2011). As we pass the 7 billion person on the planet, it is being questioned whether we will ever reach the 10 billion mark projected by United Nations demographers – not because of a natural slowing down of birth rates but because of devastating limiting environmental factors…
Whats your number? Find our how many people were on the planet when you were born! Follow the link then insert the month you were born followed by the day then the year.
We urgently need funding to continue our work with kea in 2012. If you or your organisation can help out with vital funding for the following projects, please contact us at the Trust (refer to the contact details in the menu to your left):
Funding needed in 2012:
Prevention of lead poisoning in kea - we have received partial funding from Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund - Thank you!
Conflict Resolution - trialling of repellent to prevent equipment damage
Nest monitoring of kea nests at our survey sites
Continued satellite tracking of kea - Adopt a satellite kea!
Operational support
Other items on our wish list:
This is the time for us to put our Xmas list out there in the ether and see if any of you can help us to achieve the following:
Website redesign – to ensure a fresh and current face to the KCT
Access database – to better manage our supporters, volunteers and kea sightings lists
4 wheel drive vehicle – to support our South Island based personnel during field and project work
Funds for operational expenses – to support a managerial position
2012 newsletter sponsorship – to cover costs related to design and printing of this publication
For more information on each of these projects (on a regional or local community level) please contact us. Information on each project will be posted on our Kea Research Projects page soon.
The Kea Conservation Trust cannot achieve its conservation aims without the generous contribution of our sponsors and private donors.
Generous support from our sponsors has allowed us to begin an extensive research project to estimate numbers of kea remaining in the wild, prevent kea deaths through ingestion of human made toxins and to increase empathy and dialogue on the species.
However there are currently many more unanswered questions to serious issues which impact directly on kea survival and health.
If you can help out with funding to continue these conservation efforts , please contact us for a detailed prospectus.
We would like to thank our 2008 -2010 research sponsors and partners T-GEAR Trust, The NZ Lottery Board and Department of Conservation. We would also like to thank our donors; Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund, CMaG ARAZPA, Keystone Trust, Hubbards Foods Ltd, Wellington Zoo Conservation Fund, Hamilton Zoo Conservation Fund, Canterbury Community Trust and all other individual donors and supporters.
(For a full list of our sponsors and supporters, please visit our Support Us pages in the menu).
Department of conservation and the Kea Conservation Trust are monitoring several populations of kea throughout the South Island. Your kea sightings can therefore provide invaluable information on where kea are, and if banding information is also supplied, where individual birds are.
We have 4 kea which have been fitted with satellite transmitters:
Arthurs Pass:
#68 - status active (since January 2012)
Nelson Lakes:
Chicken Little (#72) - status - active (since January 2009)
Raglan Ranger (#73) - status - not active (January 2009 - October 2009)
Leppard (#70) - status - active (since September 2010)
Chicken Little and Leppard are transmitting signals every month, however Raglan Ranger has not been located since October 2009.
This means that his transmitter has malfunctioned, dropped off and been buried or the bird has died and is in an area where the transmitter cannot access a satellite passing overhead.
We are keen to hear of any sightings of these 3 kea and in particular Raglan Ranger:
Raglan Ranger (73)
His last known coordinates (October 2009) are near Conors Creek Hut - Mt Chittenden, (Lat -41.99377 Long 172.84841) and his bands are as follows:
Metal (Right Leg): 27-103420
Colour bands (Left Leg): Yellow/Pink
For details of our other satellite kea, please visit ourKea Research Projects - Satellite Trackingpage.
Photo: Chicken Little (72) with his new satellite at Bushline Hut, Robert Ridge 2009. Photo credit: Corey Mosen
John Ray - our Volunteers Coordinator has set up the new Kea Conservation Trust Facebook page. This will allow visitors to connect to events, talks and research taking place around the country and will also provide a forum for people to add their observations and comments.
Please visit us and post your comments! We will be updating the page regularly.
