Conservation work
The New Zealand Conservation Trust
The New Zealand Conservation Trust, a charitable organisation that was established in 1984, in order to achieve the conservation and educational goals, that made up the rationale for the Reserve's existence. Originally the Willowbank Wildlife Trust, it underwent a revamp in 1996, in order to bring it up to date with today's regulatory requirements. The Trust is operated by a small Board of Trustees, who have delegated the management of the Trust to a working committee comprised of Trustees, Advisory Trustees, and officers such as Secretary and Treasurer. It has a range of subcommittees such as a Construction Committee and a Publications Committee.
The Trust's role is to maintain the animals within its care, fund raise for, and promote conservation and educational projects, while linking with other organisations within New Zealand.
The Trust has a membership that allows everyone to be a part of its activities - people's involvement can be as great or as small as they desire. Members receive a magazine called the Kaitiaki, filled with news pertaining to the work of the New Zealand Conservation Trust.
The New Zealand Conservation Trust at Willowbank works with many rare and endangered animals and birds in various breeding programmes to increase the populations and awareness of wildlife in strife. It is actively involved in the breeding and conservation of a variety of New Zealand wildlife including:
Other organisations are also involved in the Conservation of these and other animals. Click here for more information.
The Kiwi
See The Kiwi Page
Kiwi Breeding Area
The kiwi breeding area covers an outdoor open area of bush land, approximately 2 Hectares in size. This area has been extensively planted and is surrounded by a high predator-proof fence sunk deep into the ground. It is the home of several breeding pairs of kiwi. Rarely seen during the day, these birds are very active at night-time, and readily viewed under the lights.
The Weka
The weka is New Zealand’s famed wood hen. This inquisitive bird will always be found engaged in some form of activity. Their dull plumage is excellent camouflage, as they hunt a range of food types. Mostly carnivorous, they eat small insects and animals up to the size of a small bird.
Originally Canterbury was the home of the Buff Weka, but these are now extinct in this area. Fortunately a population exists on the Chatham Islands, and it is hoped to reintroduce them to Canterbury.
Blue Duck
The Blue Duck is one of New Zealand's rarest ducks. This species is in considerable danger of extinction, largely due to pollution, habitat loss and competition from introduced species such as mallard ducks. There are only about thirty birds in captivity in New Zealand and they are difficult to breed. Their habitat has been reduced to turbulent high country waters, where they feed on crustaceans and algae. Spoon-like projections around the tip of the bill enable them to gather their food. They are very aggressive and show a high level of inbreeding with often brother sister pairings occurring often.
Brown Teal
Ten Brown Teal chicks hatched at Willowbank during 2005 season from two pair of adults. These birds are extremely shy and often very hard to breed, especially in captivity. The two clutches hatched about a month apart.
The brown teal is a small dabbling duck endemic to with fewer than 1,500 birds surviving. These numbers qualify it for Level 2 endangered species status by Department of Conservation. (level 1 is the highest; the Kiwi is at level 4) The key problems are predation and habitat loss.
The widespread obliteration of ’s lowland wetlands and swamp forests and land use changes over the past 150years has forced the retreat of brown teal to small and widely separated wetlands in a predominately pastoral environment.
It is a strongly territorial, nocturnal bird, mostly found now in sanctuaries in Northland,
Great
Barrier
Island and the Coromandel although they were distributed throughout the
North
Island and in
Canterbury , Fiordland & Southland at the time of European settlement.
In the wild Brown Teal form large seasonal flocks at traditional sites. These are in summer and seem to comprise of unpaired birds, but as numbers increase pairings occur during the autumn. The pairs disperse into surrounding catchments during autumn & winter to make their breeding attempt.
Brown teal occupy an ecological niche which is almost unique amongst the world’s waterfowl. Evolving in the absence of small ground-dwelling or wetland mammals, it has adopted the characteristics akin to a wetland rodent by inhabiting areas of dense vegetation in the transition from open water to dry land.
Kune Kune Pigs
These delightful animals are of unsubstantiated origin, although they are an Asian breed of pig and have been in New Zealand for what could be almost two centuries. During this time they were kept virtually solely by Maori and were to a large extent unknown by Pakeha. A combined excursion by Staglands and Willowbank in 1984, led to 18 animals being found and being brought into a breeding programme. Most of the Kune Kune pigs today originate from that excursion, and they are now widely spread throughout New Zealand, with an active society registering them. They have also been exported to the United Kingdom, the United States and have spread to Europe. They are a delightfully placid animal, easy to maintain, with little propensity to damage pasture. They have extremely short noses, and characteristic throat tassles.
Tuatara
The Tuatara is the world's only remaining dinosaur. Dating back 150 million years, the Tuatara was once abundant in New Zealand, but is now found only on predator free offshore islands. It relies on living in areas inhabited by seabirds, who provide burrows for breeding and whose dung attracts insects, the Tuatara's food source. This lizard like creature can be best seen at night, when the safety of dark allows it to be at its most active.
|
 |
;)
;)
;)
