Manuals and Papers

The Kea Conservation Trust web-site aims to provide an easily accessible centralised resource for information and research on kea and the issues impacting on this species and its habitat.

If you have additional relevant research or literature which is not yet loaded on this page, please contact us so that we may make it available to all interested parties.

2010 Kea Husbandry Manual

Captive Management Plan and Husbandry Manual - Pullar 1996

 *The new husbandry manual will be available online mid 2010

Conservation Ecology of Kea - Elliott and Kemp 1999

Kea Population Viability Analysis - Grant et al 1993

Kea Population Estimates - Bond and Diamond 1992

For direct access to all Bond and Diamond papers (available for download on their web-site), please follow this link: http://bsweb.unl.edu/avcog/research/keapubs.htm

Evaluation of Captive Management Practices and Effect on Behaviour - Orr-Walker 2005

Education of Zoo Visitors and Advocacy of Kea - Parker 2006

North Island Fossil Record of Kea - Holdaway & Worthy 1993

Kea distribution - Travers 1883

Threatened Species Listing - Hitchmough 2005

Effect of Hunting and Predation on Kea and a Method of Monitoring Pops - Elliott and Kemp 2004

Kea Exhibits: The Dynamics of Kea Behaviour and Interpretative Signage on Visitor Interest -Crawford, 2007.

 Lead Exposure in Free Ranging Kea - J. Youl, 2009.

The following papers on kea behaviour are from Gyula Gajdon of the University of Vienna. Much of this research was undertaken at Mt Cook/Aoraki in New Zealand or at the Vienna institute.

Social Learning in Wild Kea - Gajdon et al 2004.

Limited Spread of Innovation in Kea - Gajdon et al 2006

Technical Intelligence in Animals: The Kea Model - Huber et al 2006.

Social Manipulation Causes Cooperation in Kea - Tebbich et al 1996

Problem Solving in Birds - String Pulling in Kea - Weirdenich et al 2006