Just 225 left alive and DOC shoots one

Waikato Times

MEMO TO DOC: Left is a pukeko, right is a takahe. A Doc worker shot a rare takahe on Mana Island after mistaking it for a pukeho.

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A takahe has been shot on Mana Island by a Conservation Department worker who mistook the rare native bird for a pukeko.

DOC Kapiti area manager Ian Cooksley said it was a "regrettable incident" but an investigation into the shooting found it was clearly a case of mistaken identity.

He said the man, armed with a .22 rifle, was positioned 40 metres away picking off a group of pukeko in mid-June.

But in the poor late-afternoon light he accidentally shot one of the island's 39 takahe, which had similar colourings to the intended targets.

"The man responsible was devastated; saving endangered species was part of his job. The intent to harm wasn't there so we don't need to punish him. He's got enough of that on his own."

The male takahe had not taken a mate so this year's breeding numbers were not expected to be affected, Mr Cooksley said.

Takahe are a highly endangered species - they were thought to be extinct till their rediscovery in Fiordland's Murchison Mountains in 1948.

Since then a breeding programme in Te Anau and reintroduction to Mana Island off the coast of Porirua have increased their numbers to about 225. Though the birds breed well, many chicks do not survive through winter.

Pukeko numbers on Mana Island have swelled from one in 1991 to about 600.

They need to be culled because they uproot native saplings and prey on the chicks of the endangered shore plover and brown teal.

Mr Cooksley said the culling operation would be tightened up, with restrictions on shooting in low light, and possibly using shotguns instead of rifles or only firing at pukeko in flight.

"This kind of thing hasn't happened before and won't happen again as far as I'm concerned.

"It's tragic for us but there have been much worse ... like people getting shot."

- © Fairfax NZ News