A bird that is supposedly extinct has reportedly been spotted in Golden Bay near the top of the South Island.
A tramper hiking on the Heaphy Track was looking for takahē in the bush. Instead what he found was a large dark blue bird with orange under its beak. The bird flew onto a branch, hopped along a couple of branches, then flew away.
It’s thought to have been a South Island kōkako, known as “the grey ghost”. The South Island kōkako was classified as extinct by the Department of Conservation in 2007.
However, every year there are around half a dozen sightings. The trust is offering a $10,000 reward for definitive photographic evidence of the South Island kōkako’s existence.
Mr Nilsson said they had hundreds of reports from people claiming to have seen the birds over the years.
The last accepted sighting of the orange-wattled kōkako – a separate species from the endangered blue-wattled North Island kōkako – was in Mount Aspiring National Park in 1967.
35 Responses
That is real amazing
Wow thats cool I might try find one
dont kill the bird
thats so gooooood
Wow! This is good though ‘cos then that bird isn’t extinct!??
Yay there is one more animal un-extinct
DONT KILL IT!!! It’s so cool.
That’s awesome
Nice work BRO
whoa,i’d love to see one of those!
I agree DON’T KILL THE BIRD
yay
LONG LIVE THE BIRD
(:
thats cool
I agree do not kill the bird
wow i would love to spot one!!!:D
First i thought this was about another country
NZ birds are really unique
and then dinosaurs are discovered again XD
Very nice
AMAZING!!! AHHH
really cool
wow
Cool.
Don’t kill it
Cool but don’t kill it
So cute so cute that I don’t want to kill it
This bird has been thought extinct for 11 years that is crazy.
YOU ARE NOT KIND
DON”T KILL IT DON”T KILL IT
this is amazing
Long the Soviet Union
Long live the Soviet Union
Yay there are alive
wow cool