The Kea by Mariah
The kea is a large endangered alpine parrot, only found on the South Island of New
Zealand. On our trip to the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, we were lucky enough to go inside an enclosure with these birds. Keas are very friendly and extremely intelligent birds. They were recently listed as one of the world’s smartest birds because they have the brain capacity of a 3 to 4 year-old child. As we entered the enclosure, we were warned to hold onto anything small or shiny as the birds are known to be quite cheeky.
Daniel Kline with Kati the kea (left) & a kea visiting Dr. Griffiths (right)
As seen in the featured photos, you can see just how friendly these birds truly are. Young keas have vibrant yellow beaks that fade as they get older. Their beaks are usually long and sharp to assist with gripping their mountainous environment and tearing food. Kati, the kea pictured in a photo above, is missing the top part of his beak. While the keepers of the reserve aren’t positive on what happened to Kati, their best guess is that his beak was shot off or caught in a trap set by a farmer aiming to protect his sheep. Unfortunately, there are only about 5,000 of these intelligent creatures left in the wild due to similar circumstances.
The keas are endangered mostly due to invasive predators such as stoats (part of the
weasel family), possums, feral cats, and of course, humans. Some of these predators go directly after the bird, while others raid kea nests for the eggs. Females and young are especially easy prey because the nests are built on the ground in rock crevices or tree roots. This causes a very male dominated population which leads to breeding difficulties.
All the keas that call Willowbank home have been rescued from the wild. There is a
program called the Kea Conservation Trust that works to help keas in the wild, as well as supports zoos or places like Willowbank that have keas to ensure they are well taken care of. The Kea Conservation Trust encourages the people of New Zealand to not feed wild keas and always put away gear and clean up any rubbish when out on excursions. Spreading the knowledge of these birds is also helpful in encouraging people to make a positive change.
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ReplyDeleteStoats are members of the mustelid family. Weasels and ferrets are also mustelids. All three species were introduced to New Zealand as early as 1879 to control rabbits that were destroying sheep pasture. From very early on, stoats have had a devastating effect on New Zealand’s unique birdlife.
ReplyDeleteWildlife control with predators, although widely praised by the public, rarely works.
Without animals and plants, our lives would not be possible.
Living in Hawaii, I saw the same type of animal control with the ferret brought to the islands of Hawaii, to eliminate snakes and the ferrets did their job, eliminating snakes but threw the ecosystem out of alignment, by eliminating or endangering species only found on the Hawaiian Islands.
Protecting animal species on our planet is no easy task, doing so could be connected to self-preservation in the long run.
In the big picture each species of animal has an important role in maintaining the earth’s health and humanity’s ability to thrive.