Forest park sees almost four-fold increase in kākā density in last 20 years

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-12-18 03:00

New Zealand

What does this mean?

Jump to: MultimediaAttachmentsExpert Reaction

How effective is long-term pest control to protect kākā? Researchers looked at data that monitored North Island kākā within the southern Waipapa Ecological Area in Pureora Forest Park over the last two decades to find out. Kākā density nearly quadrupled, from an average of 0.5 birds per hectare between 2000 and 2007 to 2.3 birds per hectare in 2020. The research team says kākā recovery is likely to be influenced by multiple mast events and long-term, large-scale, frequent, and effective control of possums, and probably mustelids like stoats. They recommend that the current pest control and kākā monitoring continue.