Kea heroically rescued from West Coast crevasse
A glacier guiding crew saved a kea from death after it was stuck in an icy crevasse on the West Coast for three days.
The rescuers tried to use ropes, ladders and ice to save the native bird, but it took a backpack to bring it to safety.
Fox Glacier Guiding senior guide Kelsey Porter said her colleagues heard a kea squawking near a popular feature on the glacier on August 6.
"[They] tried to do a rescue that first day they saw it, but time was a bit limited 'cause they had to fly [a helicopter] off the glacier," she said.
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"One of the guides lowered down into the crevasse and tried to reach for it, but the crevasse was too narrow for him to fit."
The crevasse was about seven metres deep and about 30 centimetres wide.
Porter joined the rescue team the next day.
"We tried to lower stuff down, like a little basket for it to get into, but it was not very keen.
That day, they saw about 15 kea hopping around the edge of the crevasse, looking out for their stuck friend.
On the third day, the team lowered down two backpacks. A guide was then lowered down into the crevasse and encouraged the bird onto one of the packs, then pulled the bag up.
"[The kea] was OK and it actually flew away pretty quickly, it was very impressive."
Kea were common around the glacier, although they had not seen any earlier this year, Porter said.
"We've definitely had some battles with them because we keep a lot of our gear on the ice. We have to kea-proof it, they're pretty cheeky.
"It's not the first time we've found a kea in a crevasse. We found one two years ago, but it was a much shallower crevasse so we were actually able to just bend over and reach in and get it out."
Porter estimated the temperature on the glacier would have dropped to about -5 degrees Celsius at night.
DOC South Westland operations manager Wayne Costello said it was "wonderful" the guides rescued the kea.
"Kea are terribly inquisitive and can sometimes get themselves in trouble. If people wish to protect kea, the main point is to never feed them and give them space."
Kea Conservation Trust chairwoman Tamsin Orr-Walker found out about the incident when the guides posted a video of the rescue on Facebook. She thanked the guides for their "fantastic" work.
The kea could have died if it was stuck in the crevasse much longer, she said.
"Kea are particularly adapted for the South Island alpine areas ... they are quite a stocky, thick bodied parrot but I don't think it would've lasted an awful lot longer."
She recommended anyone who found a trapped kea call the Department of Conservation's (DOC) hotline – 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) – and contact the Kea Conservation Trust through its website.
"We can get that bird supported, [and be] able to band that bird so we can get re-sightings that it's still alive and to weigh the bird up and check it over before it's released."
Stuff