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Stay up to date with the latest news from Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari by subscribing to the Maunga Matters Newsletter.

 

Kakapo relocated to reduce monitoring load

Kakapo relocated to reduce monitoring load

28 November 2023

The Department of Conservation is investigating new monitoring solutions for the Waikato kākāpō population after the trial has shown some kākāpō continue to be highly active. Following a review of bird activity, DOC, Ngāi Tahu and Sanctuary...

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New insights gained from kakapo translocation

New insights gained from kakapo translocation

17 October 2023

The trial kākāpō population in the heart of the Waikato continues to give insights after a determined parrot found a way to leave the fenced sanctuary. Four-year-old Tautahi, who was safely returned to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari last week, is...

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Six more kakapo moved

Six more kakapo moved

14 September 2023

A further six kākāpō have been released at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari following the successful settling in of four kākāpō earlier this year. Around 100 people gathered to welcome the new kākāpō before they were released into the 3400ha...

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Kakapo one month on

Kakapo one month on

22 August 2023

It’s been one month since Bunker, Ōtepoti, Motupōhue and Māhutonga made history by becoming the first kākāpō to live on the mainland in almost 40 years.   The four young males have settled into their new Sanctuary Mountain...

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Kakapo return to the mainland in historic translocation

Kakapo return to the mainland in historic translocation

19 July 2023

The Department of Conservation in partnership with Ngāi Tahu is moving four male kākāpō from Whenua Hou/Codfish Island near Rakiura Stewart Island to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, Waikato today. DOC Operations Manager for Kākāpō, Deidre...

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Copper Skink Release

Copper Skink Release

11 July 2023

On the 31st May 2023, 43 copper skinks were released to Te Tūī a Tāne, southern enclosure as a salvage translocation procedure. Sourced from a development site at Rotokauri (Edin Rotokauri), the translocation was a collaborative effort between mana...

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Busy kiwi translocation season

Busy kiwi translocation season

11 July 2023

Our kiwi season ended on the 1st of June and collectively we all sighed with relief after what has been our busiest kiwi season yet. Led by Save The Kiwi, a total of 111 western brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli) were translocated out of Sanctuary Mountain...

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Major milestone in kiwi conservation

Major milestone in kiwi conservation

26 June 2023

We have come to the end of our kiwi translocation season and what a season it has been. A major milestone was reached in our kiwi conservation. It was just 18 years ago when the first kiwi were released onto Maungatautari, the first kiwi to live there in...

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Farewell to two of our juvenile takahee

Farewell to two of our juvenile takahee

2 September 2022

Once again, it was time to translocate two juvenile takahē that hatched on Maungatautari. Early this month Waitii and Waitaa were translocated to Te Anau. Named after the Matariki star representing fresh water, Waitii was a juvenile hatched in the...

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Tawa research

Tawa research

22 July 2022

Tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa) can be found growing as a canopy or sub canopy tree from the top of the North Island down to Kaikoura. Tawa fruit is the fourth largest of New Zealand’s endemic flora and is primarily eaten by kererū. Prompted by...

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Hochstetter's frogs population

Hochstetter's frogs population

22 July 2022

Hochstetter’s frogs (Leiopelma hochstetteri) are one of four endemic frog species in New Zealand, with fragmented populations found in the North Island, and a conservation status of At Risk - Declining. Our native frogs are somewhat more cryptic...

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Research into impact of possums and rats on seed production

Research into impact of possums and rats on seed production

1 June 2022

Since 2020 researcher Margaret Dickinson from the University of Waikato has been visiting Maungatauari and Mangakawa regularly to survey large fruited tree species in lowland growth forest with the aim of answering the question “Do rats and possums...

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Lizard surveying

Lizard surveying

11 April 2022

Lizard survey techniques employ the use of tree covers to allow hiding places for geckos that are easy to access. Tree covers (along with ground covers and monitoring tunnels) allow for repeated surveys in the same location as an estimate of local...

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Fungal research

Fungal research

1 February 2022

Forest pathologist Dr. Ian Hood (Scion) has been volunteering his precious retirement time to study the wood colonising fungi of Maungatautari. His research started in February 2021 and involves five sites spanning an area of 1.3 km in and adjacent to Te...

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Titipounamu research

Titipounamu research

1 February 2022

Titipounamu juvenile, photo credit Deborah Smith Whilst Covid lockdowns managed to interfere with multiple surveys going ahead at the end of 2021, we were, fortunately, able to proceed with titipounamu research over the summer, with the help of Otago...

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Takahee update

Takahee update

1 February 2022

Unfortunately, this year the takahē have not had any success with their nests. The Cooper’s pair successfully hatched one egg, with a chick heard on camera, but days later a rain and flooding event is suspected to have caused either drowning...

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Titipounamu translocation

Titipounamu translocation

1 September 2021

The newest species to join our menagerie of forest species at Maungatautari is the mighty but tiny North Island titipounamu (rifleman) Acanthisitta chloris.  Eighty of these insectivorous birds were released in May and June of 2021.  Since...

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Hihi recovery

Hihi recovery

1 August 2021

by Dr Janelle Ward I recently attended the annual Hihi Recovery Group meeting – this year held at the delightful Raumati Beach with views to Kapiti Island. These recovery group meetings are on the smaller side, involving 15-20 delegates from...

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Curious about Kiwi? Summing up the Season

Curious about Kiwi? Summing up the Season

1 July 2021

This has been the busiest release season the maunga has ever seen.  A total of 111 kiwi have been released since October 2020 bringing the total kohanga cohort to 239 new founders since October 2018.  Fortunately, my role with the kiwi has...

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Hochstetter's frog surveying

Hochstetter's frog surveying

10 June 2021

Hochstetter’s frogs (Leiopelma hochstetteri) were first discovered at Maungatautari in 2004 and to date we are the only fenced Ecosanctuary to contain this rare and declining species.  Since 2009 the team at Ecoquest has been conducting a...

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iNaturalist fungi project

iNaturalist fungi project

11 May 2021

With the Autumn rain and humidity, the abundance of fungi has started to show and several rangers and visitors have seen some amazing mushrooms and other fungi over the past couple of months.  If you have an interest in fungi, the best way to help...

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Kohanga kiwi project

Kohanga kiwi project

3 February 2021

by Craig Montgomerie The five year project to release 500 new founding kiwi to the already bustling Maungatautari kiwi population has hit top gear this season. At the time of writing this we have released 54 kiwi since 16th of October 2020...

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Takahee chicks

Takahee chicks

3 February 2021

We are super pleased to announce the hatching of two takahē chicks in December this season – one chick each to new couples Hemi and Nancy (Wetland) and Pirie and Puiaki (Cooper’s). The Cooper’s chick hatched in the first few days of...

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Tuatara survey

Tuatara survey

22 December 2020

Fifty tuatara were released to Maungatautari in two locations in 2012, with 20 released to the Tuatarium in the Tautari Wetland. Initially our permit required tuatara be surveyed annually, after which the survey effort can be reduced to every five years...

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Lizard monitoring stations

Lizard monitoring stations

18 December 2020

This month the final lizard monitoring stations were set up at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, with 80 permanent survey stations installed in two main blocks within the 63ha mouse-free Southern Enclosure. Each station consists of two stacked Artificial...

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Takahee shuffle

Takahee shuffle

6 November 2020

By Janelle Ward, Species Coordinator Sanctuary Mountain’s five takahē juveniles were safely captured, checked and sent to Burwood Bush rearing facility in mid-August in a very successful but time pressured capture event –all chicks...

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Water sampling testing at Maungatautari

Water sampling testing at Maungatautari

18 August 2020

By Adrian Cookson, AgResearch in Palmerston North. I’m a Microbiologist and am very interested in analysing the Escherichia coli bacteria as indicators of faecal contamination in waterways. My previous work in collaboration with Massey...

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Insect research

Insect research

5 June 2020

By Janelle Ward, Species Co-ordinator Insects rarely receive the same amount of attention as our more charismatic species such as kiwi or hihi. However, the rare and endangered species of New Zealand include many interesting insects. As part of our...

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Species update - April 2020

Species update - April 2020

4 May 2020

The magic of mushrooms Autumn is the best time to fossick for fungi and appreciate the magic of mushrooms! Our ranger Craig recently took this amazing shot of a North Island robin next to a beautiful fungus that popped up in the northern enclosure....

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Species update - February 2020

Species update - February 2020

3 March 2020

By Janelle Ward, Species Coordinator Despite the very dry weather, we have active and thriving species here at Maungatautari this summer.  Takahe – With the recent weather, the grass growth has slowed right down which impacts the feed...

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Restoration Plan

Restoration Plan

31 January 2020

Our charismatic birds such as kaka, takahe and kokako often gain a lot of the attention, but what about all the other precious species at the maunga? Native fish including giant and banded kokopu were reintroduced in 2007, Hochstetter’s frogs have...

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Kiwi activity

Kiwi activity

2 December 2019

By Dr Janelle Ward, Species Co-ordinator  In my spare time over the past six months, I have been tackling our Maungatautari kiwi database to get it up to date and accurate. It’s amazing how easy it is for there to be errors in a...

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Kokako population in Maungatautari is thriving

Kokako population in Maungatautari is thriving

7 December 2018

We are delighted to share with you the kokako census on Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari conducted by Ian Flux during September and October 2018.  According to the report: Nineteen (19) territorial pairs were confirmed. A further pair was...

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