In New Zealand, the return of wild takahē populations marks a cautiously celebrated conservation victory, and the return of one of the world’s rarest creatures. The birds had been formally declared extinct in 1898, their already-reduced population devastated by the arrival of European settlers’ animal companions: stoats, cats, ferrets and rats. After their rediscovery in 1948, their numbers are now at about 500, growing at about 8% a year.
Fun fact: Australia and New Zealand are 2,516 miles apart, and don’t share much of the same wildlife.
The Indigenous people of Aotearoa make up 16% of the population so they are demographically a much larger political and social force than in the US or Australia.
I’ve posted several articles about links between various Indigenous cultural traditions and ecological conservation over at !conservative@kbin.social if you’re interested.
Thank you! Those are some pretty significant facts. I’ve got much to learn about things over there!
Thanks for this article, it’s very cool!