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Kea on endangered birds list as wild numbers drop

Publish Date
Wed, 13 Dec 2017, 4:15PM
An ex-parrot? there are thought to be fewer than 7000 kea in the wild (Photo/Getty)
An ex-parrot? there are thought to be fewer than 7000 kea in the wild (Photo/Getty)

Kea on endangered birds list as wild numbers drop

Publish Date
Wed, 13 Dec 2017, 4:15PM

The kea's status has officially changed to endangered after raids on their nests by introduced predators reduced their numbers to only a few thousand.

The mountain parrot, which was recently crowned the Forest & Bird conservation society's Bird of the Year, has been upgraded from vulnerable to endangered after an assessment by BirdLife International.

It is a wake-up call to take action, says Forest & Bird's chief conservation adviser, Kevin Hackwell.
"Every year, kea nests are destroyed by introduced predators like rats, stoats, possums, and feral cats," he said.

"Kea who don't regularly interact with people really benefit from large-scale aerial predator control."

Following a study that found that only 2 per cent of kea nests were successful, aerial applications of biodegradable 1080 by Department of Conservation in 2015 resulted in nest success increasing to 27 per cent.

However, kea eating the 1080 pellets, along with climate change limiting their habitat and being fed food by tourists is not helping the naughty but beloved parrot's chances of survival.

There are between 3000 and 7000 kea left in the wild.

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