A new breeding pair of takahe are going to be released at the Zealandia sanctuary in Wellington.
Nio and Orbell have been living on the predator-free Mana Island. They will be released at the sanctuary in Karori this week.
The takahē is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand. It was thought to be extinct after the last four known specimens were taken in 1898.
However, after a carefully planned search effort, the bird was rediscovered by Geoffrey Orbell near Lake Te Anau in the Murchison Mountains, South Island, on 20 November 1948.
Nio and Orbell have been paired since 2013 and have so far produced four chicks together.
Are they just fat pūkeko?
No! A takahē looks similar to the common pūkeko. They share a common ancestor, so are very distantly related.
7 Responses
I thought ZEALANDIA already had takahe’s.
This is great for them
TAKAHES ARE SO CUTE I WISH I COULD HAVE ONE- 🙁 – NYAN CAT
That looks weird I guess?
Beautiful birds aren’t they ?
A speices brought back!
Cool???