Marksmen kill endangered species in New Zealand bird cull

There are around 300 of the colorful, flightless takahe birds left in the world, but thanks to a hunting snafu in New Zealand, there are now four fewer of the critically endangered species.

Members from the Deerstalkers Association have shot four critically endangered takahe while carrying out a cull of pukeko on Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

He says the hunters had been carefully briefed on how to differentiate between the flightless takahe and pukeko, including instructions to only shoot birds on the wing.

They were mistakenly killed during Department of Conservation approved cull of puekoko; a common bird known for its aggressive behaviour.

O’Leary said the Deerstalkers Association is committed to working with DOC to protect endangered species and back country assets.

Before the shootings there were 22 birds on Motutapu Island, one of the conservation department’s predator-free “security sites”.

The takahe birds were killed because of mistaken identity, conservation officials said. The takahe is twice the size of the pukeko, but they have similar colouring.

The takahe, native to New Zealand, are already slim on the ground, with a population of 275 to 300.

The DOC called for an immediate halt of the bird cull after the incident.

DOC was in talks with the association, which is said to be “co-operating fully” with inquiries.

“We see these deaths as a setback”.

“I share with the department a concern that the deaths will affect efforts to save an endangered species”, New Zealand Deerstalkers Association president Bill O’Leary said. “I apologize to the department and to the country at large”. Their arrival and expansion continues to threaten native birds like the takahe-a species that’s been slowly recovering since the birds once thought extinct were rediscovered on New Zealand’s South island in 1948. Maud, Mana, Kapiti, Tiritiri Matangi and Motutapu islands (sanctuaries).

Takahē chicks were successfully hatched on Motutapu in 2013, which DoC’s takahē recovery group manager Deidre Vercoe Scott said, at the time, was a “huge event in the work to save takahē”.