The diminutive karure black robin has won Bird of the Year.<\/p>\n
The k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d came second, leaving the k\u0101rearea in third place.<\/p>\n
Fourth and fifth place went to the kea and takah\u0113 respectively.<\/p>\n
Found in lowland coastal forests in the Chatham Islands, the shy birds are a conservation success story, going from just five birds in the 1980s to about 350 today.<\/p>\n
Forest and Bird’s Rebecca Hatch told RNZ that despite the success, the karure black robin was critically endangered.<\/p>\n
“While the birds live on predator-free islands, those small islands are nearly at capacity in terms of good black robin territory,” she said.<\/p>\n
“For the population to keep growing, a third population needs to be established on another island.”<\/p>\n
A project was under way by the Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust to remove feral cats from Pitt Island (Rangihaute \/ Rangiauria).<\/p>\n
Feral cats were one of the biggest predators for black robin, Hatch said.<\/p>\n
“People have really turned out for nature in record numbers this year – participation has soared,” Hatch said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve had 98,920 validated votes cast this year … 88 percent of those have come from right here in Aotearoa New Zealand.”<\/p>\n
Last year, the election drew more than 75,000 voters from across 123 countries.<\/p>\n