Two takahē back at wildlife sanctuary after ten-day excursion

Once thought to be extinct, the takahē have now clawed their way back to being deemed to be nationally threatened. 

Of course, this is still not great, and with only about 500 thought to exist in the entire world, the news that two had escaped from Tāwharanui Wildlife Sanctuary caused significant concern for conservationists.

Named Heaphy and Tawhara, the mother and daughter had somehow slipped through the facility’s fence, to the alarm of staff.

Speaking to rova, Ranger Courtney Davis describes the moment they realised the pair had absconded.

“I was surprised. We track our takahē regularly, so when we didn't pick up a signal for a while, we started to get a little bit worried, and then we realised that they were on the other side of the fence. They were most likely searching for a mate. It's a mother and a daughter, so they were probably looking for a partner.”

Luckily however, there was no shortage of people, either official or unofficial, who mobilised over the next ten days to try track down the takahē as they tramped their way around Tāwharanui. 

Ranger Davis told rova it was a combination of people power with some high-tech solutions:

“We had staff, volunteers, local landowners, conservation groups, and supporters all joining together in this huge community effort to try and find our missing manu [birds]. 

“We started searching through the land, doing tracking, then we used a DOC vessel to search the coastline, and we even took a drone up and did thermal searching in the air. 

“I just want to say a huge ngā mihi nui to everyone who helped with the search. It was actually a public sighting which helped us narrow down on Tawhara, who was seen crossing a road. They're now both back in the park, and we're working closely with the Takahē Recovery Group to make plans for their future.”

With the daughter Tawhara intercepted on the way to Point Wells, which is a staggering 15km away from the sanctuary, the search remained for the older, and presumably wiser Heaphy. 

In the end, she was found close to the sanctuary’s fence, having seemingly decided that life on the run was not suited for someone her age.