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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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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....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...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...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...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...