Egg theft sends kārearea numbers soaring

Egg theft sends kārearea numbers soaring

Conservationists in Whakarewarewa Forest are celebrating the success of a programme that takes kārearea eggs away from their parents and replaces them once they're hatched.

The New Zealand falcon graces the $20 note but the eggs have such a low survival rate in the wild that it's worth the risks involved in trying to kidnap them.

In full flight the falcon reaches speeds of 200km/h, but, nesting on the ground in the forest, the kārearea's eggs and chicks are easy prey - not just prey for animals, but also hunters' guns.

"Unfortunately only 25 percent of falcons will make it through to their first year," says conservationist Debbie Stewart.

That's why volunteers from conservation group Wingspan risked attacks by a father named Hatupatu to take away two of the three eggs and replace them with decoys.

"They can't count [and] they don't have a sense of smell, so as long as we have one egg, that will keep them as a home base in their nest," Ms Stewart says.

Fewer than 8000 kārearea remain, making them rarer than the kiwi.

Wingspan claims survival chances rise from 25 percent to 95 percent if the eggs are taken and artificially incubated.

After 30 days, one is ready to hatch. It can even be heard chirping inside the shell. But hatching takes an exhausting 72 hours for the little creature, so it gets one last helping hand from its new friends.

The kārearea begins life as a tiny ball of sinew and bone. Its downy feathers take a couple of hours to fluff up.

But five feeds a day soon have the chicks up to being carried back to the nest they were taken from.

"The growth rate is absolutely incredible. It weighed only 20 grams when it first hatched and it'll be 500 grams and flying very shortly," says Ms Stewart.

There the chicks' parents pay close attention to what's happening. The volunteers say they recognise them as friends.

It's certainly a close encounter as the chick arrives back home.

The experts at Wingspan say the fledgling is quickly accepted by its parents and its prospects will soar, not just statistically.

Newshub.