Disappointing season for Hunua kkako

Treasured kkako in the Hunua Ranges have suffered a blow this season with the impact of high pest numbers hindering breeding and threatening the population.

Auckland Council Biodiversity Manager Rachel Kelleher says results just in from the 2014/15 breeding season are much worse than expected.

"Every year we closely monitor six pairs of kkako in the Hunua Kkako Management Area (KMA) and from that monitoring we get an indication of the breeding success in the wider population.

"This years results are dismal with no fledging success at all and, of even greater concern, signs that adult birds have been lost," she says.

Monitoring this season was expanded to observe five additional pairs that have settled outside the managed area.

"The growth of the kkako population in the KMA over the last 20 years has seen birds move outside the pest-controlled area.

"Unfortunately, four of the five pairs weve been following outside the KMA appear to be missing altogether," she says.

The increase in pest numbers in the Hunua Ranges has prompted Auckland Council to change its approach to pest management in the wider ranges area. An aerial pest control operation using cereal baits that contain sodium fluoroacetate (1080) will be carried out in late winter.

Franklin Ward Councillor Bill Cashmore, a local resident and member of councils Political Advisory Group for this project, echos Ms Kellehers disappointment at this seasons kkako breeding results and emphasises the importance of a new pest management regime.

"Not only are we seeing treasured and threatened species like kkako affected by rats stealing from nests or adult birds predated by stoats, the wider forest is suffering.

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Disappointing season for Hunua kkako