Translocation and re-establishment of the Rimatara lorikeet from Rimatara Island, Austral Islands, French Polynesia to Atiu Island, Cook Islands

Summary

The Rimatara lorikeet (Vini kuhlii), listed as Endangered by BirdLife International/IUCN, survives in the wild only on Rimatara in French Polynesia and two remote Kiribati islands, having been hunted to extinction on Atiu in the Cook Islands before Captain Cook's 1777 arrival. The Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, the Ornithological Society of French Polynesia and San Diego Zoo Global set out to translocate a founder population from Rimatara to ship-rat-free Atiu, the only island within the species' former range still able to support it, after ruling out Aitutaki due to competition with an already-established introduced lorikeet. In April 2007, a 13-person field team mist-netted birds on Rimatara using protocols developed for a prior ultramarine lory translocation; 28 lorikeets were captured, examined, banded, sampled and held for six to eleven days, and 27 were flown to Atiu and released immediately on arrival with no mortalities or health issues. Because the introduced common myna had shown aggression toward fledgling lorikeets, the project also ran a seven-year community-driven myna eradication campaign, removing an estimated 26,000 birds, alongside a public education effort to keep both islands free of ship rats. A 2016 census using eight road transects covering 292 hectares estimated the Atiu population at roughly 385 birds, with four captured, sampled birds found to be in excellent health. The project rates itself successful, crediting six years of patient negotiation between the two governments and communities, strong multi-source funding, an experienced field team, well-matched habitat, and community support for removing the common myna after it was seen harassing nesting lorikeets.