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LET TER FROM THE CHAIR
The 2014 year has seen a major shift in our operations, especially with the KCT office (and myself) moving south to Queenstown, as well as the Strategic Plan for Kea Conservation gaining impetus and nearing completion. The move south has enabled us to develop a more ‘local’ relationship with the communities living directly with kea and to establish a truly South Island presence for the Trust. With direct access to the stunning Aoraki/ Mt Cook, Mt Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks, it is hoped that additional field research sites may be initiated in years to come. And, while our office may be located in the Central South, our remaining trustees, advisors and administrators continue to work tirelessly from their Auckland, Wellington, Nelson and Hokitika bases; thus, proving that distance is only an impediment if you let it be! It’s always interesting to go back in time and see if you have achieved what you set out to do at the start of each year. Last year I stated that our aim was “to finalise and act upon our new strategic plan to achieve conservation goals, and to formalise partnerships and increase opportunities for communities and individuals to take action for kea conservation”. Thankfully, and with a lot of hard work from our trustees and advisors, this aim has been achieved and a new MOU between communities and kea will be rolled out as part of our 2015 Winter Advocacy Tour, “Building a future with kea”. With our new Strategic Plan up and running, we will have clarity of focus and vision and a greater ability to engage our national and international partners in a directed programme of kea conservation initiatives. Watch this space! Finally, as Chair, and on behalf of our tireless Board of Trustees and advisors, I thank everyone who has supported kea during 2014, whether as volunteers, community supporters, donors or in their role as our conservation partners. Thank you again for so generously offering your knowledge, expertise and time to our common cause of ensuring the survival of the world’s only mountain parrot, New Zealand’s fabled feathered wolf, our clown of the mountains – our kea!
Photo: Liam Bolitho
Photo: Helen Schofield
“Animals should not require our permission to live on earth. Animals were given the right to be here long before we arrived.”
A.D. Williams
EDITORIAL
Communities in conflict
Tamsin Orr-Walker
New Zealand has no dangerous endemic species and is predominantly a land of birds, small reptiles and benign insects. However, it has one species that regularly interacts with people and their property resulting in conflict. The kea is a mountain parrot, endemic to NZ’s Southern Alps. They are highly intelligent and neophilic (attracted to anything new) and as such are drawn to human areas, activity and property. Their investigative behaviour can result in destruction of human property; thus, they can be perceived as a nuisance. Kea conflict with high country sheep farmers was first documented in the late 1860s (Marriner, 1908). Kea learned that sheep were a high energy food source which, when
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