Saving the Kakerori

Environment

By Florence - Syme Buchanan

It’s a drab little bird with a call that sounds like the squeaking produced by rubbing two glass bottles and its existence isn’t widely known among Cook Islanders.

That’s probably because up until a year ago, just 29 Kakeori, the tiny Rarotongan Flycatcher, remained on the island. One of the world’s rarest birds, the Kakerori was

critically endangered.

They are found only in Rarotonga, inland of the Takitumu district living in an area covering about 150 hectares.

About 10 years ago a small group of passionate environmentalists got together and embarked on a difficult mission to save the bird from extinction. And they’ve been successful.

Many Rarotongans are superstitious of the deep bush covered hills in the centre of the lush island believing that’s where spir its and spooks lurk. So getting locals to work in dense unexplored forests to help save one of the world’s rarest birds from extinction was difficult, said Anna Tiraa- Passfield.

Tiraa-Passfield is one of the environ mentalists who has brought the tiny Kakerori back from the brink of extinction.

Although still endangered, the Kakerori has been off the critical list for just a year.

In 1885, it was first noticed by mission ary Reverend Wyatt Gill that Kakerori numbers were declining, a pattern that con tinued until 1989 when just 29 birds were estimated to exist.

The decline was blamed mainly on the ship rat, unintentionally introduced into the islands over a 100 years ago. Saving the bird meant eliminating the ship rat which ate eggs and often killed the female birds when it tried to protect the nest.

The tiny bird, weighs only about 23 grams and measures an average 14 cen timetres.

The Kakerori’s closest relatives are found in the outer islands of French Polynesia and are said to evolve from birds spreading from the Western Pacific.

A report by conservationist Gerald McCormack, one of the first to initiate the

steps to save the Kakerori, states that these relatives are also suffering reduced ranges and an increasing struggle to survive.

The Kakerori Recovery Programme quickly got underway in 1987 after it was taken out of the government’s hands.

Funding of $300,000 for a five year budget was obtained from the South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme

(Sprep).

Getting rid of the main predator involved the laborious, tedious job of lay ing poison bait at various stations covering the entire 155 hectare area the bird is known to exist, said Tiraa-Passfield.

Nesting trees were also banded with alu minium strips to prevent rats from climb ing them. Thanks to the Recovery Programme, the Kakerori population climbed to 134 by 1996. An achievement which has put the Cook Islands on the con servation map. But it has been a lot of hard work. Tiraa-Passfield says they have a few more labour intensive years before the bird is safely off the endangered list.

“It gets very monotonous, trudging up into the bush all the time to lay poison, some of the workers were very supersti tious and said it was too spooky or they could smell strange smells.”

Tiraa-Passfield says locals normally venture into deep bush only to collect tra ditional medicines or rare delicacies.

“But my dad has strong links with the land so my taunga, my spiritual side, is looking after me when I’m up there.”

The environmentalist has been spared from the mountain treks for some months as she is expecting her fourth child.

The Kakerori habitat has now become a reserve called the Takitumu Conservation Area (TCA). It was established last year by the group of environmentalists and the three major landowners. Tiraa-Passfield works for the Takitumu Conservation Area as its support officer coordinating all activ ities.

Guided nature walks through the Takitumu Conservation Area which charge a small fee helps support the recovery pro gramme.

“It’s been a great success because we are the only Pacific Island country to do

this, it has been cheap and we have had the experts but now we are running it our selves.”

Tiraa-Passfield says because the bird had almost totally disappeared, very few

Cook Islanders know of its existence.

And there are those who cannot under stand what the fuss is about.

The locals say the bird has no econom ic value, it’s not dramatic nor does it have

an attractive call.

Tiraa-Passfield says she always tells them: “Once its gone, its gone and we don’t want our children knowing about the birds just from picture books.” ■

Kakerori (Raratonga’s endangered flycatcher)