(Kim) 27 Kokako 8 year experiment

Question 1

Rescuing endangered species: North Island

Kokako

-Railway and sawmills 1955 pushed Pureora forest back.

(Kokako highly dependant on podocarp forest)

1970: NZFS commisioned NZWS to carry out ecological studies of bird life in the west Taupo forest

1972: NZWS reported concern about the viability of kokako, and other native birds whose survival dependant on bush habitat

(Pureora identified as very important remnant forest still with good Kokako populations)

Much of Pureora was already set aside for timber extraction under supply contracts managed by NZFS, so logging continued through 1970’s

Question 2

What was the tree sitting protest?

Jan 1978: NFAC protestors built platforms in tall totara trees at Pikiariki and lived in them.

NZFS replied that 2x15 yr logging conracts had to be honoured.

Muldoon government defied them.

NFAC supporters poured in from all round the country by bus

Answer 2

• Forest service forced to delare a logging moratorium, despite Muldoon.
• Compensation to last logging companies after forced closure cost $7.1m, mostly lost profit not actually yet earned

(absolute bullshit, they hadn’t lost any money, they were demanding the money based on what they expected they could have made should they have carried on logging)

Question 3

Competition with possums

• Selective browsing by possums damages forest structure
• Diets of possums and Kakako overlap
• Possums rare in PFP until after 1970’s - the absence explains why the Kokako survived there so long
• Late start to logging helped

FBRG’s first report in 1981: objective to control possums in remaining high forest Kokako areas.

Question 4

Research by management (RbM 1987-97)

• June 1988: workshop debated what to do next
• FRBG’s reccomendations largely met

Kakapo still kept dissapearing from healthy forests!

-Question to ask:

Which were the pests that needed to be established as the priority for removal? Was it those which competed with Kokapo for food or the predators which killed there young?

-8 year experiment in 2 forests designed to disentangle them

-Switched them on and off seperately, and compared Kokapo productivity with pest free Little Barrier Island.

CONCLUSION?

Answer 4

1. Although competition for food is there (possums eating Kokapo food), it is a minor issure compared with predation,
2. Kokako productivity recovers when and only when possums and rats removed to specified threshold levels as they are a threat to eggs and chicks.

Question 5

1985-1995: As soon as management introduced - Kokapo pairs increase.

(This is because you’re protecting the eggs and increasing the number of survivors of offspring which leads to increase in number of pairs in future)

95-2000: Turn off protection, increase wavers and decreases - delayed action.

2000-2005: Increase continues

So on and so forth

(Very convincing data - Reversible experiment kind of thing you need to have in order to ascertain that you’ve identified the cause of the variation)

Result?

Answer 5

In areas where possums and rats are most comprihensively and carfuly removed, kokako can recover and in abundance which allows us to move them to other protected sites.

Question 6

If you have to get rid of rats and possums, what is the best way to do it without upsetting valuable native fuana?

Experiment:

• 11 stoats radiocollared
• drop 1080
• All 11 radiocollared stoats killed by secondary poisoning

IF YOU ARE GETTING RID OF RATS AND POSSUMS THEN YOU ARE GETTING RID OF STOATS AS WELL

*Significant because you need to remove all predatory threats