Built for life in the ngahere: The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary

Nau mai, haere mai ngā kākā!
On May 27th, we released three more kākā into the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary, joining the three released last month.
These efforts are part of our long-term ambitions to reintroduce a thriving kākā population to the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary and the surrounding Te Tauihu / Top of the South forests..
🌲 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞
Kākā aren’t “park parrots” or open-country wanderers. They’re made for deep, continuous forest.
Most of their day is spent moving through the canopy: climbing, scrambling, and using that curved beak to pry into bark and branches in search of food. If the forest is healthy, it offers everything they need: tall trees, shelter, and the kind of complexity only long-lived ngahere can provide.
Old growth beech forest is an especially valuable habitat. It supports rich insect life, seasonal food sources, and plenty of nooks and hollows that forest species rely on.
Today, kākā are rare to uncommon across native forests on the main islands, so seeing one is a genuinely special experience. The good news is they’ve recovered where predators are controlled, and reintroductions attempts have been remarkably successful.
In Te Waipounamu, kākā have been released into Abel Tasman National Park since 2015 through Project Janszoon, with strong local involvement. Orokonui has also been rebuilding a kākā population since releases began in 2008. Up north, there is a thriving population of kākā at Zealandia and Pūkaha / Mount Bruce.
Our kākā reintroduction efforts are carried out in partnership with Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō i with support from the World Parrot Trust, Natureland Zoo, Department of Conservation and Nelson City Council.
Let them be wild – never feed kākā
📷Photo credit: Fraser Heal

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