The Kea Conservation Trust is a New Zealand conservation NGO working to protect kea, a large alpine parrot found only in the South Island of New Zealand. [1]
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The Kea Conservation Trust is a New Zealand conservation NGO working to protect kea, a large alpine parrot found only in the South Island of New Zealand. [1]
The Kea Conservation Trust was incorporated in 2006 as a charitable trust, then later registered as a charity in 2008. [2] It was founded by current chairperson Tamsin Orr-Walker and three other trustees to raise money for research and to work with other community conservation groups, such as the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation. [3]
Since 2017 Peter Hillary, son of mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary, has been the patron of the Trust. [4] In 2019, Orr-Walker was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to kea conservation. [5]
The Trust's activities are diverse and include: [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
As of 2020 the Trust has six trustees, three appointed office-holders, a scientific advisor, two field personnel and a "kea dog" named Ajax, who was the subject of a book and short documentary film. [11] [12] [13]
The kea is a species of large parrot in the family Nestoridae found in the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About 48 cm (19 in) long, it is mostly olive-green with a brilliant orange under its wings and has a large, narrow, curved, grey-brown upper beak. Its omnivorous diet includes carrion, but consists mainly of roots, leaves, berries, nectar, and insects. Now uncommon, the kea was once killed for bounty due to concerns by the sheep-farming community that it attacked livestock, especially sheep. In 1986, it received absolute protection under the Wildlife Act.
The kākāpō, also known as owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the super-family Strigopoidea, endemic to New Zealand.
Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and is the fourth largest retailer, with 14 percent of market share in terms of customers as of December 2015.
Fiordland is a geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the westernmost third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes, and its steep, glacier-carved and now ocean-flooded western valleys. The name "Fiordland" comes from a variant spelling of the Scandinavian word for this type of steep valley, "fjord". The area of Fiordland is dominated by, and very roughly coterminous with, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand's largest National Park.
Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is by far the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of 12,607 square kilometres (4,868 sq mi), and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The park is administered by the Department of Conservation.
The South Island takahē, also known as the notornis, is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand, and the largest living member of the rail family. It was hunted extensively by Māori, but was not named and described by Europeans until 1847, and then only from fossil bones. In 1850 a living bird was captured, and three more collected in the 19th century. After another bird was captured in 1898, and no more were to be found, the species was presumed extinct. Fifty years later, however, after a carefully planned search, takahē were dramatically rediscovered in 1948 by Geoffrey Orbell in an isolated valley in the South Island's Murchison Mountains. The species is now managed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, whose Takahē Recovery Programme maintains populations on several offshore islands as well as Takahē Valley. It has now been reintroduced to a second mainland site in Kahurangi National Park. Although takahē are still a threatened species, their NZTCS status was downgraded in 2016 from Nationally Critical to Nationally Vulnerable. The population is 418 and is growing by 10 percent per year.
The kākā is a large species of parrot of the family Nestoridae found in native forests of New Zealand. Two subspecies are recognised. It is endangered and has disappeared from much of its former range, though conservation efforts mean it is now increasingly common across Wellington.
Resolution Island or Tau Moana (Māori) is the largest island in the Fiordland region of southwest New Zealand, covering a total of 208 km2 (80 sq mi). It is the country's seventh largest island, and the second largest uninhabited island. Resolution Island is separated from the mainland of the South Island by Tamatea / Dusky Sound, Te Puaitaha / Breaksea Sound, and Acheron Passage. The island is part of the Fiordland National Park.
Lake Hauroko is the deepest lake in New Zealand. The lake, which is 462 metres deep, is located in a mountain valley in Fiordland National Park.
The Waiau River is the largest river in the Southland region of New Zealand. 'Waiau' translates to 'River of Swirling Currents'. It is the outflow of Lake Te Anau, flowing from it into Lake Manapouri 10 kilometres (6 mi) to the south, and from there flows south for 70 kilometres (43 mi) before reaching the Foveaux Strait 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of Tuatapere. It also takes water from Lake Monowai.
Chalky Island or Te Kākahu-o-Tamatea is an island in the southwest of New Zealand, and is part of Fiordland National Park. It lies at the entrance to Taiari / Chalky Inlet, next to Rakituma / Preservation Inlet, at the southwestern tip of the South Island, 10 kilometres (6 mi) northwest of Puysegur Point, 15 kilometres (9 mi) southeast of West Cape, and 140 kilometres (87 mi) west of Invercargill.
Anchor Island is an island in Dusky Sound in Fiordland.
The Hump Ridge Track, also called the Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track, is a 61 km walking track that is partly in Fiordland National Park in New Zealand. The track was opened in 2001 and is run privately on behalf of the Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track Charitable Trust.
The New Zealand parrot superfamily, Strigopoidea, consists of at least three genera of parrots – Nestor, Strigops, the fossil Nelepsittacus, and probably the fossil Heracles. The genus Nestor consists of the kea, kākā, Norfolk Island kaka and Chatham Island kaka, while the genus Strigops contains the iconic kākāpō. All extant species are endemic to New Zealand. The species of the genus Nelepsittacus were endemics of the main islands, while the two extinct species of the genus Nestor were found at the nearby oceanic islands such as Chatham Island of New Zealand, and Norfolk Island and adjacent Phillip Island.
Hunting is a popular recreational pursuit and a tourist activity in New Zealand with numerous books and magazines published on the topic. Unlike most other developed countries with a hunting tradition, there are no bag-limits or seasons for hunting large game in New Zealand. Hunting in national parks is a permitted activity. The wide variety of game animals and the limited restrictions means hunting is a popular pastime which has resulted in a high level of firearms ownership among civilians.
Southland is New Zealand's southernmost region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. It includes Southland District, Gore District and the city of Invercargill. The region covers over 3.1 million hectares and spans over 3,400 km of coast.
Caley J. Hall is classified as a listed New Zealand investment artist in Invercargill and Queenstown, New Zealand. Hall specializes in oil painting, and is well known for his Fiordland landscapes and expressionist abstracts. A largely self-taught artist, he has learned techniques and takes inspiration from other New Zealand artists, including renowned Queenstown-based painter Tim Wilson, Canterbury wilderness artist Nathanael Provis and Central Otago-based painter Peter Beadle. He exhibited his large abstracts at the Peppers Bluewater Resort in Tekapo in 2012.
The Murchison Mountains are a group of mountains in Fiordland National Park in New Zealand. It is the location where the South Island takahē, a type of bird presumed extinct, was rediscovered in 1948. The highest mountain is Mount Lyall at 1,892 metres (6,207 ft).
RealNZ is a New Zealand tourism company based in Queenstown. The company offers a range of travel, cruises and excursions in Queenstown, Milford Sound / Piopiotahi, Te Anau, Fiordland and Stewart Island / Rakiura. It also operates two skifields Cardrona Alpine Resort, and Treble Cone, and the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch. The company is the successor of a series of acquisitions in the South Island tourist sector over more than 60 years.The brand RealNZ was launched in October 2021 to bring together multiple brands and businesses including Real Journeys that were previously part of the Wayfare Group, although some of the businesses have retained individual branding.
Moana Uta Marine Reserve is a marine reserve covering the entire length of Wet Jacket Arm in Fiordland on New Zealand's South Island, an area of 2,007 hectares. It was established in 2005 and is administered by the Department of Conservation.
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