Conservation translocations of red-fronted parakeet on Matiu/ Somes Island and Motuihe Island, New Zealand

Summary

The red-fronted parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae), a CITES Appendix I species endemic to New Zealand, had been reduced by introduced predators, hunting and habitat loss to a scatter of predator-free offshore islands. Repeated translocations since 1974 had established at least five island populations, but in 2005 the Department of Conservation halted releases of captive-bred stock after analysis found much of it hybridised with the closely related yellow-crowned parakeet. From 2003, the project instead translocated wild-caught birds from two source populations, Kapiti Island and Little Barrier Island, to two community-restored release sites, Matiu/Somes Island and Motuihe Island, refining capture, housing and transport techniques as it went. Success was measured against 50 percent founder survival at six months, breeding within a year of release, and unassisted dispersal to nearby conservation sites.