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Wellington Zoo – Our in-situ conservation links
Sarah van Herpt
found out that Bravo had been predated by a stoat and it really highlighted to me the difficulties that our wildlife face on a daily basis. I believe that going into the field and seeing firsthand what is happening to protect our wildlife greatly improved my understanding and compassion for their plight. This trip has allowed me to make more of a connection with the visitors to Wellington Zoo, in turn helping them to find easy ways they can contribute to kea conservation. This experience would not have been possible without the help of Wellington Zoo’s Conservation Fund. Supporting a wide range of conservation projects in the field provides a tangible link between the advocate animals at Wellington Zoo and their kin in the wild, but also provides opportunities for Wellington Zoo staff to grow themselves. The projects supported include international programmes such as Free the Bears and NZ projects such as Places for Penguins and Kea Conservation Trust.
Photo: Phoebe van der Pol
In December of 2012 I was privileged to be able to spend 10 days doing fieldwork in the South Island with Kea Conservation Trust staff member, Corey Mosen. During my time there we carried out a wide range of activities including the monitoring of female kea and their nests, repellent trials and the recapture of satellite tagged birds. It was an eye-opening experience, challenging my perceptions of both kea behaviour and survival, while also increasing my awareness of the challenges facing kea conservation. It fostered my drive to become an active advocate for these birds both in my workplace and my community. A few things really stuck with me throughout the trip, but one in particular was watching the parent kea as we processed the chicks, which involved weighing them, taking feathers, blood and measurements of their heads, banding and attaching satellite transmitters. As we were doing this for two of the chicks, their parents hung around exhibiting identical behaviours as we see
with our kea pair during breeding season. The male was curious and watchful, coming and sitting just above us. However the female was more standoffish, preferring to stay high up in the trees fanning her tail feathers and holding her wings out slightly, breaking off small twigs and throwing them down – just like our female. I really bonded with one of the chicks we came across from Aphrodite’s nest, which had previously been heavily predated so we weren’t expecting a chick. On arrival however, we found what was possibly the cutest kea chick ever, who I named Bravo. He weighed enough that we could easily pop the satellite transmitter harness on him, yet he still had some little downy feathers showing through. He was the calmest chick I handled and sat in my lap the entire time we processed him. When I got back to the Zoo I was buzzing! I did a presentation for staff members telling them about my amazing experiences, and everything I had learnt. Sadly, just before doing the presentation I 20
Photos: Sarah van Herpt