Gentle giants return to the mainland

They’re big, they’re scary, and they’re coming back to the city!

On Sunday 11 February, volunteers, trustees, iwi representatives and invited dignitaries will watch as up to 100 Cook Strait giant weta (Deinacrida rugosa) are released back into the wild at Wellington’s award-winning Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. This will be the first attempt to re-establish this species on the mainland since they became extinct here over a century ago.

At around 70mm long, and weighing up to 27g, these mouse-sized insects are one of the world’s heaviest insects and, for many, the stuff of nightmares. But appearances can be deceiving. Deinacrida rugosa are gentle giants - herbivores far less ferocious than the smaller tree weta we find in our garages, gardens and gumboots!

The weta will be collected on Matiu/Somes Island and released into two different habitat areas at the world-first wildlife sanctuary, where they will be safe from the rats and stoats that lead to their extinction on all but a few offshore islands. This is the first of four planned transfers – up to 450 weta will be transferred in total over four years. The source populations will all be from Matiu/Somes and Mana Islands. Giant weta will be the 15th native species transferred into the safety of the Sanctuary, and the first invertebrate released.

“We are delighted to be involved in re-establishing a wild population of Cook Strait giant weta on the mainland for the first time” says Sanctuary chief executive Nancy McIntosh-Ward.

“This is another significant achievement both for the Sanctuary and for Wellington. Giant weta are one of New Zealand’s iconic ‘living dinosaurs’. They have been around for many millions of years and are as unique to our landscape as kiwi and tuatara”

Twenty of the weta will be fitted with radio transmitters so Sanctuary staff can monitor their movements. This is the first time transmitters have been used to track weta as part of a species transfer.

ENDS

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