NZ wildlife questions? Ask them here.

26-12-2007

OK,

Tuatara: I don't put any faith in Wikipedia most of the time, but in this case I wouldn't dare try to go up against it's review of the species' history. The tuatara article on there is first-class. What I'll will say, in reply to the other questions, yes there are two species: the common tuatara and the Brothers Islands tuatara. The latter was actually first described as a separate species by Walter Buller back in 1877 but this was soon disregarded and it wasn't until 1989 that it was reinstated. The tiny relict population from Little Barrier Island has also been suggested as being a separate species. There are about 100,000 common tuatara and about 300 Brothers Islands tuatara. All are restricted to offshore islands except for a recently-established population of commons in the predator-fenced Karori Sanctuary in Wellington (these are treated as true wild animals not captives because they are free-living and managed as part of the island populations). The only real threats to tuatara today are rats (these are being eliminated on all offshore islands as far as possible), although smuggling will always be a problem. The islands are easy to access if a person has a boat and they fetch large sums of money from overseas collectors. There are only six foreign zoos with common tuatara and one with Brothers, but it is unfortunately not unusual to see tuatara being advertised for sale on reptile forums etc. (If you see this report it, because there are none held legally by private persons outside NZ).

Tuatara basically eat anything that moves. Invertebrates, lizards, frogs, baby tuatara (these are more diurnal and can often be found off the ground in bushes and trees, probably to avoid adult predation). The adults live in burrows, often sharing them with petrels and shearwaters. They will eat the eggs and chicks, and even the adult birds. They have a ridiculously strong bite -- when they get a hold on you, you know all about it!

26-12-2007

tuatara skeleton showing the gastralia (abdominal ribs) and parietal eye hole

26-12-2007

I love seeing the Tuatara at Chester!

When i was younger I could never see them until a few years ago, when I saw one. Since then, I can't miss them whenever I pass the exhibit. I've even helped out some other zoo-visitors is 'tuatara-spotting'

They are really interesting creatures.

26-12-2007

Ok whats the status of the Yellow Eyed Penguin at this time, have they thought about some captive breeding with them?.

26-12-2007

is there any sign of the tuatara breeding yet at chester?

26-12-2007

grrrr, I've typed this out twice already and my computer keeps losing it!!!!!! Third time lucky?

Extinct birds: you've probably seen this site already but it also includes bird songs (including the kokako):
New Zealand Birds | Birds

I prefer books to websites when it comes to the extinct birds. Three books I would recommend if you want to get hold of them, are:
"The Lost World of the Moa" by Trevor Worthy and Richard Holdaway (2002, Canterbury University Press: Christchurch). These guys are both palaeontologists, the book is huge (and quite expensive, but well worth it), and it covers EVERYTHING! Its mostly text and diagrams, with some line drawings.
"Extinct Birds of New Zealand" by Alan Tennyson and Paul Martinson (2006, Te Papa Press: Wellington). Excellent glossy "coffee-table" type book with paintings of all the species. It includes Lord Howe Island etc in the NZ region which I find misleading in terms of checklists etc, and only has currently described species, hence it leaves out the kiwi species that used to be found down the South Island's east coast but rather curiously includes an unnamed megapode that I would consider to be only hypothetical. It also only covers full species and no subspecies (and as we all know, splitting and lumping can stuff that system up pretty quick).
"New Zealand's Extinct Birds" by Brian Gill and Paul Martinson (1991, Random Century: Auckland). Sort of like an earlier version of the above book. Different author, same artist, although the paintings are much better in the 2006 book. Because its an older book it is missing a couple of species then not yet known, and includes the Chathams sea eagle which was then still considered a legitimate species.

On a related note, there are now thought to have been nine moa species not eleven, due to the massive size differences between male and female in some species.

26-12-2007

The first episode of Life of Birds By David Attenborough has lots of new Zealand species.

26-12-2007

I took this photo last month at Katiki Point in Otago. Although always quoted as being the world's rarest penguin, this isn't in fact true.

There are about 450 pairs on the South Island, about 150 pairs on Stewart Island, and about 1200 pairs on the subantarctic islands (mainly the Auckland and Campbell Islands). Mainland populations swing back and forth from year to year due to various factors. The subantarctic populations have no threats and are considered safe. There are none in captivity and there has never been considered any need to establish a captive population.

The Fiordland crested penguin has about 2500-3000 breeding pairs and while this is a greater population, they all breed in the southwest South Island and some on Stewart Island so are actually at greater risk.

The Galapagos penguin is the world's rarest penguin, with about 1000 pairs.

26-12-2007

They were in a relatively small aviary... Four poles about 10 feet high, in 4m x 4m aviary with mesh on three side and 1m or so of shelter at the back... There was no floor just the earth planted out with small native bushes...

26-12-2007

How is the breeding programme for all kiwi species progressing in NZ, the brown species seems to do well both in NZ and in Frankfurt and Washington. What about the other species are there many kept in NZ and would i be right in saying that the main centre for kiwi is at Otorohanga?

new question...
26-12-2007

great thread chlidonias.

okay, so i wanna know about introduced species. i know that new zealand unfortunately has a host of them. most mammals i am aware of,...

brush tail possums
various wallabies
rats and mice, ferrets
various asian and american deer
chamois
himlayan tahr
european hedgehog
rabbits
ferrets, weasels and stoats
various australian frogs
an australian skink (lizard)

but what else have i missed? are there any other mammals? (don't worry about feral domestics). any other reptiles? what about birds. i know an aweful lot of globally common and australian birds were introduced to NZ (why you would introduce birds to an island of birds i don't know!)

and what about pets? chinchillas? newts? greek tortoises? i have heard all these species are available...

26-12-2007

What about Black Swans, & Moose, I think Canada geese

26-12-2007

also dont forget the whole rang eof Australian bird species which have naturalised themselves in New Zealand after European settlement.
and dont forget invertebrates too, but now were getting a bit niggly

26-12-2007

The only kiwi that is commonly kept in captivity is the North Island brown kiwi. Otorohanga and Mt. Bruce have pairs of great and little spotted kiwi and have both bred them in the past, while Willowbank has recently acquired a "pair" of rescued great spotteds and is planning on breeding young for release into the Arthur's Pass area (which is probably little more than a pipe-dream considering how hard this species has proved to be to breed). I think there may be another rescued great spotted at the Hokitika Aquarium. There are no Okarito or southern browns in captivity for breeding or display purposes. There are no real plans to establish captive breeding programmes for any kiwi other than the existing one for North Island browns because DoC prefers to concentrate on keeping them in the wild (and really seems bent on getting most of the adult birds in captivity now into the wild. Reportedly no more kiwi houses are being given consent for construction, although Hamilton will be getting them soon so it can't be a very strict ban). No adult kiwi are taken from the wild unless it is necessary for their survival (that is, unless they have been hit by cars or injured in possum traps, etc). However there is a programme called Operation Nest Egg (ONE), where eggs from wild birds are removed and the young reared in captivity for about six months before being released back into the wild again. This is a programme aimed at reducing the heavy losses that new kiwi chicks face from introduced predators. Kiwi chicks are out of the nest burrow looking for food within six days of hatching and are independent in around three weeks or so. Up to 95% of them are killed during this stage by stoats and cats. ONE aims at stopping chick mortality and increasing adult numbers. ONE started with North Island browns but has recently been extended to include the more endangered Okarito and Haast kiwi (Willowbank, for example, has hatched some eggs from these species in the past year)

I don't know that any one place could be called the main centre for kiwi. All the captive birds are treated as a single population and managed by DoC as such, as is the case with nearly all the NZ species kept here in captivity

26-12-2007

kind of took off this thread, didn't it?

OK, here we go. These are the introduced species currently established in NZ -- invertebrates not included, lol

MAMMALS

Bennett's (red-necked) wallabies in the South Island, thousands and thousands of them descended from just three individuals released in 1874.

On Kawau island off Auckland there are/were parma, tammar, brush-tailed rock, black-striped and swamp wallabies, all introduced by Governor Sir George Grey who owned the island. The island is actually an important kiwi habitat which the wallabies have been destroying so they are being eliminated (or have already been so). A large number were shipped off to Australia before the poisoning began because obviously the parma and brush-taileds are endangered and the tammars actually belong to an otherwise extinct subspecies! The tammars are also common around the Rotorua area. Tammars and brush-taileds had been previously eliminated from Rangitoto Island.

Brush-tailed possum -- HUGE pest! No predators apart from humans and cars. Destroy the forests and have been proven to eat both eggs and the female birds incubating on the nests.

European hedgehog -- long considered harmless but now known to also eat the eggs of ground-nesters like stilts and dotterels, as well as on lizards and native invertebrates.

European rabbit and hare -- yes, pests again (I know you Australians are familiar with that!)

Polynesian rat (kiore); brown (Norway) rat; black (ship) rat: house mouse -- all pests, especially the black rat which has been implicated in numerous extinctions and declines. The kiore was thought to be harmless but is now thought to have been responsible for several pre-European extinctions

Stoat, weasel, ferret, feral cat --weasels are rare in NZ, ferrets are common but live on the ground so are restricted in what they kill. Stoats are the biggest threat to NZ wildlife. They are EVERYWHERE, and can get everywhere, from the ground to the canopy. All hole-nesting birds are being wiped out by this predator because the females are cornered and killed in the nest.

Feral pig, horse, cattle -- the pig is a big pest, destroying forest habitat, eating rare invertebrates like giant snails and weta, and digging out kiwi burrows.

Chamois and tahr -- very destructive to the alpine environment, which is not adapted to supporting hooved-stock

Red deer and wapiti, fallow deer, sika, rusa, sambar, white-tailed deer -- all major pests (unless you listen to the hunter community in which case they are valued and harmless members of our fauna, lol)

Moose were introduced but haven't been seen for decades. The habitat into which they were released in Fiordland was entirely unsuitable (vertical-walled rainforest-covered valleys). There may be a few still down there

BIRDS

Black swan
Canada goose
Feral goose
Cape Barren goose
Mallard
Ring-necked pheasant
Golden pheasant (recently-established on one small island)
Feral peafowl
Feral guineafowl
Feral turkey
scattered semi-feral chickens
Californian quail
Australian brown quail
Bobwhite
Red-legged partridge
Chukar
Feral pigeon
Spot-necked dove
Barbary dove
Greater sulphur-crested cockatoo
Galah
Eastern rosella
Crimson rosella
Rainbow lorikeet (a recent introduction round Auckland that DoC/MaF has been trying to eradicate)
Little owl
Common kookaburra
European blackbird
Song thrush
Skylark
Hedge sparrow
House sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Redpoll
Cirl bunting
Yellowhammer
Red-vented bulbul (probably no longer found wild here)
Common starling
Common mynah
Australian magpie
Rook

HERPTILES

Rainbow skink Lampropholis delicata
Whistling frog Litoria ewingii (descended from someone tipping a jarfull of tadpoles into a drain in a West Coast town)
Golden bell frog Litoria aurea
Southern bell frog Litoria raniformis (these species have different names in Australia)
the green tree frog Litoria caerulea was introduced but didn't establish.

FISH

Brown trout Salmo trutta
Atlantic salmon Salmo salar
Rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss
Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka
Brook char Salvelinus fontinalis
Mackinaw Salvelinus namaycush
Brown bullhead Ameiurus nebulosus
Goldfish Carassius auratus
European carp Cyprinus carpio
Tench Tinca tinca
Rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus
Orfe Leuciscus idus
Mosquitofish Gambusia affinis
Guppy Poecilia reticulata
Sailfin molly Poecilia latipinna
Swordtail Xiphophorus helleri
Caudo/leopardfish Phalloceras caudimaculatus
Perch Perca fluviatilis