2010 Annual Winter Survey

Every Saturday/Sunday afternoon throughout July

(Sponsored by Hubbard’s Food Ltd and the KCT)

The 3rd year of the annual winter survey has now been completed and we will be collecting survey forms and entering data over the next month.

Photos and names of contributors will continue to be entered onto our Winter Survey page during this time.

For all those who took part this year, THANKYOU for your time and effort! Keep sending in your information (either by post, fax or completing our quick online form)  and any photos taken (of your friends, family, yourself and/or kea) during your survey.

 Tamsin and Lorne recording kea at Deaths Corner, Arthurs Pass

Photo credit: Georgina Warren Orr-Walker

Winter Survey Recording Form

Winter Survey Information 

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KCT South Island visit - 24th June - 3rd July

Tamsin Orr-Walker (KCT Chair) and Dr Lorne Roberts ( Science Advisor) spoke to a variety of groups around the South Island during the Winter advocacy tour.

For photos and information on talks, please visit our Winter Surveys page.

We would like to thank all our hosts who have taken the time and offered their venues to us during our South Island tour. Thank you!

• Environment Canterbury (ECAN) - Christchurch
• Geraldine High School
• Twizel Event Centre - hosted by DOC and Twizel Area School
• Queenstown Kiwi Birdlife Park
• NZ Forest and Bird - Wanaka
• Whare Kea- Wanaka
• National Kiwi Centre - Hokitika

Payroll Giving - help us reach our funding targets!

Payroll giving is a voluntary scheme for employers and employees who are wanting to donate to registered charities with donor status, such as the Kea Conservation Trust.

For any donations made through Payroll Giving, you will receive an immediate 33% tax rebate.

For more information on where to go to set this up, please visit our Support Us - Supporters page.

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Updated web pages 

For kids - Kea Explorers

This page provides has been updated and includes information for kids on the following:

Would you like to help kea? Would you like to find out more about them so you can tell your friends and family? Do you have a pet bird or caged animal at home you would like to keep healthy and happy?

If so, visit our Kea Explorers page and learn more!

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 New Kea Husbandry Manual

The final draft of the new husbandry manual for kea has now been completed and loaded onto our website (Kea Information – Captive Population page).

The new standards are based on current scientific information available on the species.

The manual provides in-depth background information on the species to aid in best practice management of kea in captivity and covers enclosure requirements, enrichment, training, advocacy, health, feeding and reproduction.

This document is the result of almost one year of work donated by the Kea Conservation Trusts Chair, Tamsin Orr-Walker. It is free to access however, we would appreciate any donation, no matter how small, to the Trust to help continue such work in the future.

If you would like to support work such as this carried out freely by the KCT,  please visit our Support Us  page for details.

Photo credit: Orana Wildlife Park

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Chicken Little is still going strong!

Chicken Little’s satellite transmitter is still sending out information each month and as of the middle of July was still in the Nelson Lakes area on Robert Ridge not far from where he was initially caught in January 2009! This is a return trip of over 90km from his natal area.

We are hoping to sight and recatch him during our nest monitoring project in September and December this year.

To view maps of Chicken Little’s progress over the last 18mths visit our Satellite Tracking page

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2010 Membership - (1st April - 31st March 2011)

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 our full colour annual newsletter which is due to be printed in time for the new membership year (April). This year the newsletters production has been sponsored by Franklin Zoo Wildlife Sanctuary (thank you Franklin!)

Photo Credit: Vicky Nall

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The State of our Planet

This page has a variety of links (inclusive of BBC series links), resources, and information on the broader human impacts on our planet.

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.

This information is updated on a regular basis.

Well worth a look!

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Projects for 2010 - Can you help us with funding?

We urgently need funding to continue our work with kea this year. 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):

• 2011 Population research - Summer survey (3rd year)  - this project has now been funded by NZ Lottery Grants Board - Thank you!
• 2010 Winter survey and advocacy drive - this project has been funded by Hubbards Foods Ltd and the KCT - Thank you!
• Continued monitoring of our satellite kea - this project has been funded by NZ Lottery Grants Board - Thank you!
• Nest monitoring and tracking of kea (Nelson Lakes/Arthurs Pass) - this project has been funded by the Wellington Zoo Conservation Fund for 2010 and 2011 - Thank you!

Projects which still needing funding:

• Prevention of lead poisoning in kea - we have received partial funding from Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund - Thank you!
• Conflict Resolution - trialling of kea repellent to prevent equipment damage
• Education and advocacy programme for schools

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.

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 Satellite Tracking - have you seen these kea?

Satellite maps of the fledgling from last year, nicknamed Chicken Little (72) are now loaded onto the website through until April 2010.

The other juvenile kea (nicknamed the Raglan Ranger after the area he was found in), has not been detected since mid October. 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 2 kea.

Raglan Ranger (73)

His last known coordinates (October) 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

Chicken Little (72)

Presently in the Nelson Lakes area on Mt Robert

Metal (Right Leg): 27-103403

Colour bands (Left Leg): Orange/Yellow

If you see any kea with the band combinations above, please contact us directly at the Trust; Any information on either of these two birds would be much appreciated!

Photo: Chicken Little (72) with his new satellite at Bushline Hut, Robert Ridge 2009. Photo credit: Corey Mosen

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 Thank you to our Sponsors!

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 and all other individual donors.

(For a full list of our sponsors and donors, please visit our Support Us  pages in the menu).

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 Year Round Monitoring of Kea - new online form!

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.

Sightings may be sent in a number of ways:

• Online - fill in the new online form  on the Kea Research Projects - Population Research page, and simply press the send key to forward to us instantly!
• Text – text the number of kea seen, their location and any banding information (colour and placement of bands) to us at 0274249594;
• Email – simply send us a quick email with your sighting/s;
• Post – print out a form from the website or write us a quick note and send to 83 Tanekaha Rd, Titirangi, Waitakere City 0604.

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