Eggs from New Zealand’s rarest parakeet, the kākāriki karaka, were carefully taken from a nest in Nelson’s Brook Waimārama Sanctuary and flown to Christchurch in February to help save the species.
Rangers moved the eggs as part of a recovery programme run by the Department of Conservation and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. The birds, also known as orange-fronted parakeets, are critically endangered and only about 450 are believed to remain in the wild.
More than 100 of the birds were moved to the Nelson sanctuary between 2021 and 2023, and their numbers there have now doubled. In the wild, the last two main populations live in alpine beech forest valleys in Canterbury. However, predator attacks have caused their numbers to rise and fall quickly over the years.
Ranger Megan Farley said collecting the eggs was very difficult because the birds nest inside holes in trees. Volunteers found 12 nests, but only one had eggs that could safely be taken. Using a small scoop on a long pole, Farley carefully lifted five eggs from the nest.
The eggs were lowered by rope, placed in a padded case, and flown to a wildlife centre in Christchurch. There, an older female bird helped incubate the eggs. Three of the eggs have now successfully hatched.
