Orange-fronted parakeets are doing very well with several pairs having up to 8 eggs / chicks ( FB ). Any ZooChatter ever been at this place ( Aspiration. Realisation. Conservation The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust ) ?
no photos sorry. In the early days when I first visited they had a few exotics including a couple of macaques brought back from India as pets by Lady Isaac, but otherwise mostly birds such as pelicans and waterfowl. Now they specialise in breeding endemics, largely for release, including tuatara, shore plovers, black stilt, orange-fronted kakariki, brown teal and blue duck. I think they also have some endemic lizards as well. They had yellowheads Mohoua ochrocephala for a period back in the mid-1990s (only here and Orana Park have ever kept them).
Some news from the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust : Fantastic news! We have received a wild clutch of orange-fronted parakeet/kakariki karaka eggs from the Department of Conservation monitoring team, to diversify the genetics of the captive breeding population. These eggs are now being incubated by foster parents. Genetic management is crucial for critically endangered species.
More on the wild-collected Orange-fronted parakeets-eggs : Team OFP: save NZ's orange-fronted parakeet | Facebook
Update from Facebook : Orange-fronted parakeet/kakariki update: This week we will start flock mating a wild chick with two captive bred females to form a new pair. One of our pairs, a female whom lost her first male and was recently given a young male to keep her company, is now incubating eggs. Two other pairs are currently nest prospecting, even though it is still winter!
Release of 16 captive-bred Blue ducks into the wild : ( from FB ) : 16 Blue Duck have just been released in the Hokitika area last week. Included with this release were juveniles that had been hatched at Kiwi Birdlife Park in Queenstown plus Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch. Those ducklings hatched elsewhere, come to us at age 2-3 days for hand-raising. We have the facilities and expertise required for hand-rearing, as ducklings do not otherwise survive in aviaries when left with their parents, as they generally starve to death by refusing to eat the supplementary artificial diet. Ducklings from Orana Park come to us aged 8-10 weeks, where they join the other ducklings and are hardened up in our "Raceway Aviaries" which provide fast flowing water, just like their natural environment in the wild. Once the juveniles are 3-4 months old they are processed for release which includes a physical check, disease screening and micro-chipping - all ready to go!
Shore plovers bred at Isaac Conservation have been released on Mana Island on April 14th. The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust Also, according to Facebook a pair of blue ducks with 6 juveniles and 16 orange fronted Kakarikis were released prior to the lockdown.
Sept 2 --> Facebook : " Brown Teal can breed through winter, as long as they are happy and have the right diet, and already have 4 clutches hatched plus there 4 nests incubating under the females. During the Covid lockdown there was a nationwide ban on breeding Brown Teal because no one was able to send wildlife around the country. Fortunately, this ban didn’t include ICWT due to the fact that we have excellent facilities to hold the juveniles "
