{"id":568308,"date":"2026-03-27T18:21:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/568308\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T18:21:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:21:24","slug":"takahe-breeding-pairs-released-at-cape-kidnappers-golf-course-sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/568308\/","title":{"rendered":"Takah\u0113 breeding pairs released at Cape Kidnappers golf course sanctuary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Takah\u0113 were thought extinct until 1947 when a tiny population was rediscovered in the Murchison Mountains.<\/p>\n

The population of takah\u0113 is 507.<\/p>\n

Cape Sanctuary has been running for 20 years.<\/p>\n

In that time, the project constructed 10.6km of predator-proof fencing and thanks to countless hours of volunteer work, had transformed the area from farmland into a refuge for endangered native species.<\/p>\n

Two takah\u0113 arrived at the sanctuary in 2012 and bred successfully.<\/p>\n

Further expansion in 2014 allowed three more breeding pairs to be established.<\/p>\n

\"CapeCape Sanctuary founder Liz Lowe introduces a takah\u0113 to Senitra Nathan-Marsh and newborn Hinemat\u0101ruru before being released at Cape Kidnappers Golf Course. Photo \/ Nadine Maue<\/p>\n

Phil Marsh, Department of Conservation (DoC) project lead for takah\u0113 sanctuary sites, said Cape Sanctuary had raised 17 young takah\u0113 released into wild sites.<\/p>\n

That success allowed DoC to approve further expansion of the takah\u0113 population at the sanctuary, starting with the three new breeding pairs.<\/p>\n

Currently, 18 birds are free to roam the full sanctuary, with a permit for up to 100.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hoped that this extra space will enable the local population to at least triple in size,\u201d Marsh said.<\/p>\n

With Cape Sanctuary\u2019s population closely managed, each bird has a name.<\/p>\n

The new arrivals are older, experienced breeders who are moving into their less productive years.<\/p>\n

They are Princhester, 16, and her partner Hossack, 9; Jenkins, 10, and her partner Taramea, 16; as well as Hoheria, 15, and her partner Nuinea, 17.<\/p>\n

\"Nuinea,Nuinea, a 17-year-old takah\u0113 inspects new his surroundings after being moved to Cape Kidnappers Golf Course. Photo \/ Aimee Pitcher<\/p>\n

Marsh said the pairs had trained many of their chicks and fostered juveniles, passing on skills to prepare the next generation of takah\u0113 for life in the wild.<\/p>\n

The birds are expected to thrive at the golf course.<\/p>\n

\u201cTakah\u0113 like the open grass areas provided by golf courses, we\u2019ve had examples from different parts of the country showing they settle well around them,\u201d Marsh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA wild takah\u0113 named Frost … wandered out of the Rees Valley and ended up on the Glenorchy golf course as his preferred habitat and we have had a thriving population of takah\u0113 on the golf course at Wairakei since 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cape Sanctuary general manager Rachel Ward said the project\u2019s key ethos is conservation, production, human habitation, recreation and tourism working together, not exclusively.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like to think of ourselves as the rural model for Predator Free 2050 \u2013 we are learning the lessons here that will be needed when species like takah\u0113 can roam safely across mainland New Zealand again.”<\/p>\n

Cape Kidnappers Golf Course superintendent Brad Sim said his team arrive before sunrise and see a lot of kiwi.<\/p>\n

Having the takah\u0113 hanging around during the day was going to be great for guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Takah\u0113 were thought extinct until 1947 when a tiny population was rediscovered in the Murchison Mountains. The population…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[1466,1929,64,63,242240,74022,101692,13059,9662,3023,755,94842,251518,64526,279459,54958,56955,85,28210,253106,279458,3605],"class_list":["post-568308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-about","tag-at","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-birdie","tag-breeding","tag-cant","tag-cape","tag-course","tag-eagle","tag-golf","tag-golfers","tag-kidnappers","tag-lucky","tag-pairs","tag-released","tag-sanctuary","tag-sports","tag-strike","tag-struggling","tag-takah","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}