More pateke for Tawharanui Open Sanctuary

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One of the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary pateke with seven chicks, photographed in October 2008. Photo: Alison Stanes, TOSSI

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE: Auckland Regional Council and Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society Inc.
More pateke for Tawharanui Open Sanctuary
11 February 2009
Another 40 pateke (brown teal) will be released into the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary at Tawharanui Regional Park this Thursday (12 February 2009).

These birds are coming to the open sanctuary from the Pateke Recovery Captive Breeding Network, made up of 20 volunteer pateke breeders from all around New Zealand, and join the pateke that were released into the open sanctuary in February 2008.

The pateke is a nationally endangered small brown dabbling duck that is New Zealand’s rarest mainland waterfowl species.

ARC open sanctuary coordinator Matt Maitland says this year’s release is a positive reflection on the progress that the rare birds are making at the park.

“We know that at least half of the 24 birds released in 2007 are still living on the park and estimate that at least eight to 14 new chicks have hatched,” he says.

Some birds have been spotted on neighbouring properties including the nearby Christian Bay wetland.

“It is not unusual for pateke to move outside of a release area, making it important for our neighbours to allow and assist with predator control on their properties. We are very grateful for this ongoing support from neighbouring landowners,” says Matt.

The pattern of establishment observed in the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary, based on the number of birds remaining in the managed area, mortality figures and breeding figures, is extremely similar to that observed at other sites where pateke are being released.

No pateke deaths have been recorded inside the predator free open sanctuary and adjacent buffer zone. These results have pleased the Department of Conservation which has again given the ‘green light’ for this multi-year translocation to progress as part of its Pateke Recovery Programme.

The restoration of the Mangatawhiri wetland has been a key project for the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society Inc (TOSSI) in recent years. TOSSI Chair Paul Williams says the introduction of pateke is the culmination of these efforts.

“TOSSI volunteers have dedicated many hours to restoring this threatened ecosystem and we are delighted to see rare species like the pateke returned to its natural habitat.

“This project has been made possible through funding from Banrock Station wines and Wetland Care New Zealand’s dedicated sponsorship of lost wetland restoration and duck habitat,” he says.

ARC councillor for Rodney and Deputy Chair of the Parks and Heritage Committee Christine Rose says partnerships with volunteers across the parks network, and the nation, hold the key to endangered species recovery and survival.

“The regional parks are a great location to host species recovery and reintroduce Aucklanders to their lost natural heritage,” she says.

This release is the second of up to four planned for Tawharanui over the next two to three years.

ENDS

About pateke at Tawharanui
• 24 birds were released into the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary in February 2008. These birds also came from the captive breeding network (mentioned above).
• The 2008 release date coincided with World Wetlands Day and the release of the Department of Conservation’s Pateke Survival Guide.
• At least three broods of chicks have been produced with between three and seven birds per brood. We estimate that there are at least 8-14 new chicks.
• Pateke have been returned to Tawharanui as part of a partnership project between the ARC, TOSSI, DOC and the Banrock Station – Wetland Care New Zealand partnership.

The ARC and TOSSI partnership
• The Tawharanui Open Sanctuary is a community partnership between the ARC and the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society Inc.
• Tawharanui Regional Park is owned and managed by the ARC on behalf of the people of the Auckland region; it is one of 26 regional parks.
• TOSSI was formed in 2002 to assist with the development of the open sanctuary. It has raised over $400,000 toward the establishment of the predator proof fence and ongoing conservation projects in the sanctuary. TOSSI members volunteer thousands of hours each year; assisting with species monitoring, pest control, tree planting and habitat restoration.

About pateke (brown teal)
• The pateke is a small brown dabbling duck of teal-like size. It has a distinctive whitish narrow ring around each eye, and its head, face and throat is a mottled brown.
• The Pateke Recovery Captive Breeding Network is made up of 20 volunteer breeders from all around New Zealand who contribute juvenile pateke for release into the wild each year.
• The pateke was once widespread throughout New Zealand but is now rare and restricted to Great Barrier Island and coastal valleys of eastern Northland, plus seven sites where DOC and partners have reintroduced them.
• This release is the second of up to four planned for Tawharanui over the next two to three years.
• The species has suffered an ongoing decline in numbers and range since the late nineteenth century. There are currently fewer than 2000 pateke living in a wild state in New Zealand, up from under 1000 nine years ago, making it New Zealand’s rarest waterfowl species on the mainland.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) conservation criteria (IUCN, 1994) list pateke as ‘endangered’, and the Department of Conservation (DOC) lists it as a ‘nationally endangered’ species.
• For further information about pateke go to www.brownteal.com

Tawharanui Regional Park and Open Sanctuary
• The 588-hectare regional park is New Zealand's first integrated open sanctuary (mainland island) where farming, public recreation and conservation of native species combine.
• Tawharanui Regional Park is owned by the ARC and the open sanctuary is managed in partnership with the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society Inc (TOSSI).
• How to get there: Take State Highway 1 north to Warkworth. Follow the signs to Matakana. Just past Matakana turn right at the Omaha turn off, drive along Takatu Rd and the park is well sign posted. (Note: the last 6km of the route is a winding gravel road). Approx 90 minutes from downtown Auckland.
• For further information about Tawharanui Open Sanctuary go to www.arc.govt.nz or www.tossi.org.nz.

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