Lots has been happening with kea in the last while, though whilst there is often good news, unfortunately there is also a lot of bad news too—our kea are in trouble!
Newsletter
Have you seen our latest August Update newsletter? In it, we talk about the kea information shelter opening, the database, our schools education programme and more.
If not, you can have a read of it here on MailChimp—make sure you sign up for email updates if you want to be kept in the loop. Any volunteer opportunities will be advertised in it.
Good news
- Mark & Laura visited Beryl’s nest in August and found that she had produced three new eggs, one of which has already hatched—see picture at top of blog post.
- Mark & Laura also banded four new birds at Deaths Corner.
- Mark & George were able to free a juvenile male kea at Mt Hutt from some fibrous rope caught up around his leg. He has now been banded, though attempts to band his female counterpart were unsuccessful.
- Laura & George had a successful day at Porters Ski Area, banding four of the six unbanded birds seen that day. One bird (Anthea) was also seen with bands that were added in 2013!
Bad news
- Two kea (Andrew & Opawa) have been electrocuted at the Temple Basin Ski Area. DOC Arthur’s Pass and Temple Basin are trying to work with Orion to reduce these sorts of deaths from happening.
- Four kea have been killed by road accidents in various locations. It’s important that you be vigilant in areas where kea are known to hang around the roads (including ski-field car parks), and slow down if necessary.
That’s about it for the latest kea news. If you’re interested in naming and sponsoring a bird, you can read all about it at https://keadatabase.nz/sponsor—a unique opportunity for you or your business to help out our special alpine parrot.
Thanks,
—The Arthur’s Pass Kea Team
(Laura, Mark, George, Di, Lydia & Claire)
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