A landslip caused by the recent 7.8-earthquake centred on the coastal tourist town of Kaikoura in New Zealand’s South Island is reported to have “wiped away” half of a breeding colony of the Endangered (and locally endemic) Hutton's Shearwater Puffinus huttoni (click here).

Hutton's Shearwater fledgling, photograph from the Hutton's Shearwater Charitable Trust 

Hutton’s Shearwater breeds in the austral summer (September - March) at only two alpine localities 1200–1800 m above sea level in the Seaward Kaikoura Mountains. “This is the only place in the world where this species breeds and its population has been dropping alarmingly for years.”  The two colonies together form an Important Bird Area.

Half of the Kowhai Valley colony, the larger of the two, has been “swept away”, according to New Zealand’s Department of Conservation which is currently attempting to gauge how many birds have been lost.  The other mountain colony, Shearwater Stream, is not thought to have been affected.

"The total population was only 110 000 -- quite small really, for a shearwater," says Karen Baird of the NGO Forest & Bird (New Zealand’s BirdLife International partner), who predicts that at least 25% of the species’ breeding population will have been lost by the earthquake - although the number could be as high as 49%.

The fenced translocation colony established in 2005 on the Kaikoura Peninsula close to the sea that is managed by the Hutton's Shearwater Charitable Trust is thought to be safe: "It's not a steep site, and it's covered in grass."

In the meantime Kaikoura is near-completely cut off with its coastal access roads blocked by landslips.  People are being urged to stay away from DOC-managed tracks and conservation areas in areas affected by the earthquake until further notice.  Follow regular updates on the situation from DOC here.

Read past articles in ACAP Latest News on the conservation of Hutton’s Shearwater here.

Selected Literature:

Sommer, E., Bell, M., Bradfield, P., Dunlop, K., Gaze, P., Harrow, G., McGahan, P., Morrisey, M., Walford, D. & Cuthbert, R. 2009.  Population trends, breeding success and predation rates of Hutton's shearwater (Puffinus huttoni): a 20 year assessment.  Notornis  56: 144-153.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 November 2016

The Vulnerable Hawaiian Petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis is endemic to the high Hawaiian islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Lanai and Maui in the north Pacific.  The “big island” of Hawaii supports a small breeding population of around 75 pairs at high altitude on the volcanic peaks of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park.  These birds are at risk to feral cats Felis catus, despite the barren nature of the environment in which they breed in holes and crevices in lava fields.

Hawaiian Petrel, photograph by Andre Raine

To protect the Mauna Loa population an eight-kilometre long cat-proof fence, the largest in the United States, has been built by the National Park Service that encompasses 600 acres (245 ha) to keep the cats out.  Construction commenced in 2013 outside the breeding season and has now been completed.

“The specifically designed barrier is more than six feet [1.8 m] high, and has a curved top section that prevents cats from climbing over it.”

Watch a six-minute video on the Hawaiian Petrels breeding on Mauna Loa.

View videos on the fence construction:

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2016/10/27/video-largest-cat-proof-fence-built-on-largest-volcano/

http://www.metronews.ca/news/world/2016/11/04/hawaii-cat-fence-endangered-birds.html

See also:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/mbvd/americas-largest-cat-proof-fence-built-in-hawaii-to-protect?utm_term=.ljypOByBZ#.wr2EZBRBw

It remains to be seen whether the protected Hawaiian Petrels in the absence of feral cats will be deleteriously affected by alien rodents, to which the new fence presumably will not be a barrier.  Rodents have been recorded in the diet of feral cats on Mauna Loa (click here).

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 November 2016s

The latest issue (No. 28 November 2016) of Project News, the Newsletter of the South Georgia Habitat Restoration Project is now available.  For the last half a decade ACAP Latest News has been reporting regularly on the efforts to rid South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* of its introduced rats and mice (click here).  The three-phased eradication exercise was completed two austral summers ago and now the task this summer as Phase Four is to assess whether all the rodents are finally gone.

South Georgia looms behind an offshore island, photograph by Sally Poncet

So far no signs of rodents have been seen since the last poison bait drop in March 2015 and reports are now regular on the return to the island of affected birds, such as the endemic South Georgia Pipit Anthus antarcticus and Wilson’s Storm Petrel Oceanites oceanicus, as reported by Project Director, Tony Martin in the South Georgia Heritage Trust’s Project News.

Three New Zealand-trained detection terriers, along with their two handlers, will travel to the island to sniff out rodent sign this summer.  Tony writes “the ultimate rodent detection device is a moist nose on the front end of a highly trained dog”.  Let’s hope the dogs will find nothing and the World’s largest island eradication project can be finally proclaimed a success.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 November 2016

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

The Island Conservation Society (ICS) is seeking volunteers for three- to six-month positions in the Aride Island Nature Reserve, Seychelles.  Aride Island is the home of breeding tropical seabirds, including TropicalPuffinus bailloni and Wedge-tailedPuffinus pacificus Shearwaters (click here).

Tropical Shearwaters

Volunteers should ideally possess a degree in a biological sciences and/or useful practical skills or IT skills plus a good level of fitness and the ability to swim.  ICS will contribute UK£ 375 towards international flights and provide free accommodation on 68-ha Aride.  Volunteers will be responsible for their own living expenses on the island.

Apply via the Aride volunteer application form.  Also available: Information for Aride volunteers.

The island is managed as a nature reserve by ICS.  The island’s only inhabitants are the reserve's staff, including the Island Manager, Conservation Officer and rangers.  The Society promotes the conservation and restoration of island ecosystems, sustainable development of islands, and awareness of their vulnerability and vital importance to the planet's biodiversity.

“Please consider that work on Aride can be extremely strenuous, the climate is hot and humid and you are isolated on a small island with only basic first aid”

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 November 2016