The ZIP field team returned to work in the Perth River valley on Tuesday 28 April, shortly after the COVID Level Four restrictions were lifted. Our field ranger Mike and his possum detection dog Pepper spent their first night back in the field camping by the headwaters of the Barlow River, where they were tasked with tracking down a possum we had detected in our network of lured trail cameras.
The following morning they awoke at 5:00am to a tell-tale cacophony of shrieks and an ominous rustling. They dragged themselves outside, and were shocked to find their ultra-hardy canvas storage bags and dry bags chewed to ribbons, gear strewn about the campsite, and several juvenile kea engaged in a serious attempt to dismantle their tent.
It’s normal for our team to camp in single-person tents, with some gear stored outside the tent, packed in dry bags and thick canvas storage bags to protect it from weather and the odd curious kea. While there have been a few minor instances of kea interfering with gear at other locations in the Perth River valley, we have never experienced such a targeted, sustained attack at this particular campsite!
Some of the gear in question. Not pictured: an electronic rifle scope that will probably never be seen again!
While Pepper watched from a safe distance, shaking ‘like a fish’, Mike counted an incredible 27 birds at the tahr camp, and caught the encounter on video (see below). Then, man and dog gathered what was left of their field gear and made a hasty retreat to the nearest bivvy.
The large number of young kea seen during this encounter coincides with the end of the fledgling season (November to May), a time when all juveniles from the previous breeding season reach independence. Although Mike and Pepper may not have been smiling at the time, a close encounter with such a large flock of juveniles is a very positive sign, and we are delighted by the frequent kea sightings reported by all of our field rangers. Along with the results of our recent kea survey, we are seeing increasing evidence that the Perth River kea population is thriving as we work to protect the site against possums, rats and stoats.
A few of the guilty kea…