It is said that those who are declared dead live longer – the Takahē is an example of this. The birds, also known as blue rails, cannot fly. But they are very fast on foot. The species comes from the genus of purple chickens, is about 60 centimeters tall and weighs around two and a half kilos, i.e. comparable to a domestic goose.
About 500 specimens of the South Island takahē live in New Zealand. This is somewhat astonishing, because the species was actually thought to be extinct – twice. Their habitat in present-day New Zealand was drastically destroyed when humans settled the area around 800 years ago. First came the Māori, from whose language the species’ name comes. Then the Europeans.
The natives were familiar with the birds, but gave them no official name, and no descriptions have survived. It was not until 1849 that the British-New Zealand naturalist Walter Mantell came into possession of the remains of a shot specimen. When he got at least the skin and plumage of one more specimen two years later, he declared it “unlikely that further living specimens will be found”.
Mantell should do the colorfully feathered bird an injustice, at least for the time being. In fact, two more specimens were found. The last of these was in 1898, when a dog dragged a takahē. Since then, the South Island takahē has officially been considered extinct. Although isolated sightings have been reported in the meantime, these could never be confirmed. Only one specimen of the North Island takahe, which was significantly larger and more delicate than its close relative, was caught at the end of the 19th century.
But again, the scientists had given up on the South Island takahē too early. In 1948 the species was unexpectedly rediscovered in the Murchison Mountains. Since then, species conservationists and the New Zealand Nature Conservation Authority have been working intensively to maintain and expand the population. It works step by step: there are currently around 500 copies, and the number is increasing by eight percent every year.
In 2018, the first specimens from the breeding program were released into the wild. The conservationists are currently celebrating another success: 18 more birds have been released into the wild, in an area where they have not been seen for about 100 years. If they find their way there well, a further seven specimens are to follow in October and up to ten young birds next year.
Sources: “Guardian” / New Zealand Conservation Agency / “New Zealand Geographic”
