Taking Time to Save Endangered Birds in New Zealand

Saving near extinct plovers in New Zealand and still adhering to the country-wide lock down and social distancing.  Quite an achievement.

Despite stringent lockdown orders in place country-wide, as New Zealand battles Covid-19, five juvenile shore plovers – or tūturuatu – were flown from captivity in Christchurch to the remote, predator-free Mana Island off the coast of Wellington on Saturday.

The birds caught a near-empty Air New Zealand flight for the 450km journey, taking up full rows, and being monitored by cabin crew who have few human passengers to attend anymore.Conservation minister Eugenie Sage said a lot of careful planning went into staging the operation.

“There are just 250 of these birds left in the world and these juveniles are a critical part of attempts to establish a self-sustaining population on the pest-free Mana Island so numbers can grow,” Sage said.