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Welcome to the Kea Conservation Trust website!
On this site you will find out information about one of New Zealands most charismatic species inclusive of current research, threats to kea and how you can make a difference.
All information is easily accessible by clicking on the pages in the menu to the left of the screen - please take your time and enjoy learning more about this fabulous species!
This month:
Join us at the Kea Conservation Trust - 2013 Membership
The Kea Conservation Trust is a registered charitable trust dedicated to kea conservation. But we cant help kea on our own - it is only with support from our members and funders that we can help this species. Joining the Kea Conservation Trust will help us to:
Initiate important research projects to help kea (please visit our Kea Projects page for details)
Develop education and advocacy material
Raise awareness and mitigate issues impacting on the species
Cover our running costs
Gain additional funds to continue our work.
If you would like to become a KCT member for 2013 period please contact our membership secretary Kay Davidson at
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At least five kea and one New Zealand falcon have died at an Alpine Energy substation at Mt Cook in February.
All birds were electrocuted within the National Park after accessing live cables. It is hoped that Alpine Energy will take immediate action to upgrade their facility before more incidents occur.
In the meantime, Corey Mosen (KCT/DOC) has applied some of the Kea Conservation Trusts bird repellent mix around the area in an effort to dissuade any further interaction by threatened birds.
To find out about the full story, visit our Kea in the News page. We will keep you updated when we receive a response from Alpine Energy.
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Flora Hut - Lead free!
(From the FMC NZ March newsletter)
Nelson Tramping Club has entered into an informal agreement with DoC (Motueka) to help refurbish and maintain historic Flora Hut. This hut is an important entry point to Kahurangi. Being close to the road-end but in an alpine environment, the hut is very suitable for families to introduce their youngsters to the hills.
On 1-2 March 2013, 20 club members removed the roof including lead nails, replaced them using screw fasteners over new building paper and repainted plus some other odd jobs. Not as simple as it sounds because the rough old iron was distinctly out of shape. The hut is looking much smarter and the keas are safer.
Although adoption or ownership of huts is not uncommon in the conservation estate, this may be an accelerating trend under "Conservation for Prosperity" where DoC's focus is moving away from backcountry huts and tracks. Such arrangements do confirm community interest in these facilities and provides avenues for personal, practical communications with DoC managers and staff.
While it is great to see more huts being made lead free by the efforts of keen local individuals, communities, groups such as FMC and DOC there are many more buildings which still need to be checked out and deleaded. One building recently found to have lead in it is the Mt Cook School roof where kea have been seen to visit. We hope that the school board and DOC will rally around keen members of the public to make this building safe for kea.
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21 Peaks in 21 Days! Thank you to new mountain sponsors
A huge thanks to everyone who has supported this very worthwhile expedition. Although things didn't quite end the way Nathan and Nigel hoped, they did an excellent job in raising awareness of kea and in showing the importance of dreaming big " Dream big and challenge yourself - trying but not succeding is far better than never trying at all".
A total of $9,678 was raised during this expedition and all funds raised are earmarked to set up an intensive predator control network in Nelson Lakes to protect threatened kea nests this season from predation. Not only will pest control protect the resident kea population and hopefully result in more chicks raised, but will also protect other native species within this area such as kaka and rock wren. We hope that in the future visitors to the area will be able to enjoy more bird song and more kea antics in the National Park. Thank you Nathan and Nigel for all your efforts!
We would all like to thank the following people and organisations for supporting Nathan and Nigel and donating so generously to the Kea Conservation Trust: R Collier, Elizabeth Watson, DP child, B & Dins Holder, JK Fergus Tomooka Family, Joanne and Jared Cameron, Waller Precision Sprayers- J&N Taylor, Wendy Baker, S Nichols, Mrs J M Nicholas, P & C P A Fox( Caren Fox), Fran and Dan Matthews, G&A Hunter, Mark & Jayne Hubble, Rozalyn and Alf Clear, Harker Family, Mr Robert Andrew Ferguson, Mrs Catriona Aramaki, Mick Bec Ferguson, Mr SJ Langridge Reet Club. Wendy Baker, Waller Precision Sprayers, Trish Barry, Kirsen Warah, Chris Cox family, Judy Nicholas and friends and C Philip.
Also a big thanks to mountain sponsors - Maruia River Lodge and Café – Mt Una, Caroline Emily Donovan – Emily Peak and Outward Bound – Mt Ella.
Also thanks to supporters DOC, Bivouac, NZ Mountain Safety Council, City Fitness, and of course the Sport NZ Hillary Expedition Grant.
Other supporters and sponsors include the following:
Department of Conservation
City Gym - for 3 free months gym membership for Nathan and Nigel
Field Projects Update – 2012 Nest monitoring - Updates
Funded by Wellington Zoo Conservation Fund and NZ Lottery Grants Board
A total of 9 chicks were observed in December over the 4 nest monitoring sites (a total area of around 25,000Ha) down from 16 chicks and 5 eggs recorded between August - November. It is likely that by January, the number of chicks which successfully fledged would have again decreased - for instance no fledglings were observed at Kahurangi National Park site in January although 3 chicks had been observed 1 month earlier still in their nest, and only 2 chicks fledged at Nelson Lakes from an original 6 recorded on film.
Nelson LakesNests Although 3 active nests containing 6 chicks were originally observed in August - November 2012, only Rachels nest successfully fledged 2 chicks. Aphrodites chick which was almost ready to leave the nest was predated on by a stoat on the evening of 17th December.
Predator Control at Nelson Lakes to be extended Department of Conservation St Arnaud had placed an intensive possum and stoat trapping network around Rachels nest - this was the only nest which successfully fledged chicks last season (photo of Darwined and Rutherford above by Corey Mosen).
We are now looking to protect all all kea nests in this area during the 2013 nesting season to see if nesting is successful over the entire survey area. Funds from the 21 Peaks in 21 Days expedition will be going towards this project. If you would like to help out with this project, please contact us at
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Auckland University - Satellite Tracking of kea Erin Kennedy of Auckland University is doing her PhD on the spatiotemporal dynamics of kea behaviour and ecology. Providing data for this research is a growing number of kea who now have satellite transmitters attached to them in Okarito, Arthurs Pass and Nelson Lakes (including Darwined and Rutherford from Rachels nest). The satellites will track dispersal movements of juvenile kea with the aim of exploring human kea conflicts. Catching of these kea was a team effort with Jacinda, Joseph and Erin deploying the Okarito devices, Corey and Erin the Hawden devices and Corey the two Nelson Lakes transmitters.
Satellite Tracking of Darwined (Nelson Lakes) - 4 January - 9 March 2013 - To see where Darwined has gone to, go to our Satellite Tracking page. 'Her' nest mate, Rutherford, is quite sedentary by comparison, still in the six mile.
Thanks to Erin Kennedy, Josh Kemp, Corey Mosen, Jacinda Amey, Joseph Fraser, Liam Bolitho and Dr Todd Dennis for use of satellite images of Nelson Lakes fledgling Darwined. Great to see she is doing so well!
If you would like to make a donation or become a member, you can now pay directly on our website (Donate and Help Kea) via Paypal. This should make things alot easier for all our overseas supporters!
Please note that our Paypal is presently experiencing difficulties which we hope to remedy over the next month. If you have any problems please contact us at
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A thief stole hundreds of dollars from Peter Leach's campervan, but left no fingerprints - because the thief has no fingers.
Mr Leach, a visitor from Glasgow, Scotland, stopped at Arthur's Pass on Wednesday to take in the views at a rest area along State Highway 73. He left the windows down as he snapped photos of the scenery, including one of an unusual bird on the ground near his vehicle. Little did he know he'd become a target for the local criminal element.
"A Canadian couple walked by and said: 'We've just seen that bird take something out of your campervan'," Mr Leach laughed.
"It took all the money I had. I was left with $40 in my pocket."
The unsuspecting tourist had stashed his travel cash - about NZ$1300 - in a small cloth drawstring bag and left it on the dashboard, where the bird apparently found it while rummaging through other items.
The kea grabbed the bag and made a clean aerial getaway.
Effort to stop Kea Electrocutions
21/02/2013
Rhonda Markby
Kea repellent has been sprayed on a substation at Mt Cook in an attempt to stop kea being electrocuted.
In the past couple of weeks, five kea and a native falcon have been electrocuted at Alpine Energy's Unwin Hut Substation at the entrance to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. And it seemed likely at least a handful of other kea had died the same way, Department of Conservation community relations programme manager Shirley Slatter said yesterday.
For the full article as well as other past news articles, please visit our Kea in the News page
Melanie White, our membership secretary for the last few years, has now been succeeded by Kay Davidson of Hokitika who will also be taking over all of our administration and shop areas. Thank you to Melanie for all her hardwork over the years welcoming new members on board and maintaining the membership database. We have certainly appreciated your support!
We now officially welcome Kay on Board in her new role - thank you Kay for all your enthuiasm to date (and your great organisational skills)!
2013 Membership - (1st April 2012 - 31st March 2013)
Help us to continue helping kea by becoming a member of the Kea Conservation Trust! Your membership will help us with our running costs and provide support to help secure funding. Al our members will receive a hardcopy of our annual magazine, Nestor notabilis free.
KEA EXPLORERS - each of our Kea Explorers will receive a members pack which includes the following:
our short promo DVD on kea (so you can tell others about kea!)
and a Clever Kiwi 1B5 exercise book featuring the Magnificent Kea which you can use at school
a Kea Explorers code of conduct
If you would like to renew your membership or join up as a new member for the 2013- 2014 period, please visit our Support Us - Join Now page. If you are unsure as to your status, you may visit our Support Us - Members page to check or contact us via the contact details in the Menu.
2012 Nestor notabilis newsletter – Limited hard copies available
The 2012 edition of the Kea Conservation Trust newsletter, Nestor Notabilis, showcases all the KCT and local communities have achieved throughout the year with conservation of kea.
Many thanks to Whare Kea Lodge and Chalet (www.wharekealodge.com), who have funded the printing of this year’s publication. Thank you also to Paradigm printers for their layout and design.
This year has some great articles and stunning images from a range of contributors here and overseas – thank you to everyone who has made this year’s newsletter a success! Hard copies of this 28 page newsletter are available for $20 including p/p in NZ (add an additional $5 for overseas orders).
To view as an online interactive book follow this link
Receive our bi-monthly email updates FREE! Click here to sign up.
The Kea Conservation Trust bi-monthly updates are sent out free to everyone interested in kea. Our updates are loaded with kea information, research, sightings and photos and are sent out on the 1st of every second month (February, April, June, August, October and December each year).
Members are also available to view all past updates (loaded onto our members only pages on this website).
Check out our great promotional video produced by Roland Kahurangi. This short video highlights issues facing kea and showcases some of the work that we do here at the KCT in collaboration with the Department of Conservation, university researchers, zoos and local communities. With beautiful footage of kea flying in the mountains and fascinating video of researchers working with birds, this is a must see!
Kids Kea Conservation DVD
This will be completed at the end of the year and will be posted onto our websites Kea for Kids page in the New Year. Thanks to everyone who has been involved with this wonderful project. In the meantime we have some great clips from the new video that have been loaded onto this page - so please check them out!
This page has a variety of links (inclusive of BBC series links), resources, and information on the broader human impacts on our planet which is updated on a regular basis.
These impacts affect all biodiversity on our planet and impact on fragile ecosytems such as alpine environments that species such as kea rely on to survive.
Well worth a look!
New This month
Three new short videos loaded:
The 6th Mass Extinction - In the Last 500 million years, the earth has experienced five mass Extinctions. We are at a critical moment. What happens over the next 50-100 years will determine what the earth looks like for the next ten million.
a must see and a must share for all conservationists.
Also check out whats new on the Why Populations Count Facebook page and Why Populations Count - NZ website. This page will keep you up to date with discussions on the population issue and is regularly updated with photos, updates and links to overseas sites great sites around the world.
Whats your number? Find our how many people were on the planet when you were born! Follow the link then insert the month you were born followed by the day then the year.
We urgently need funding to continue our work with kea in 2013. If you or your organisation can help out with vital funding for the following projects, please contact us at the Trust (refer to the contact details in the menu to your left):
Funding needed for 2013:
Nest Monitoring of new study site - Otira
Trialling of surface repellents to prevent kea deaths in baiting and trapping systems - thank you to Auckland Zoo Conservation Funding for supporting this project.
2013 Nest monitoring at our survey sites - Nelson Lakes, Hawdon Valley (Arthurs Pass), Kiwi Saddle (Kahurangi NP) and Borland (Fiordland)
Nest Protection Project - funds for pest control (traps and field personnel) - part funded by 21 Peaks in 21 Days
Continued satellite tracking of kea - Adopt a satellite kea!
Operational support - we need to support operational positions within the trust to ensure we achieve our aims.
2013 Summer Survey - Kiwi Saddle and the Kaikoura Mountains
Public information and road signage for Arthurs Pass
Other items on our wish list:
Education materials
Access database – to better manage our supporters, volunteers and kea sightings lists
4 wheel drive vehicle – to support our South Island based personnel during field and project work
Funds for operational expenses – to support a managerial position
For more information on each of these projects (on a regional or local community level) please contact us. Information on each project will be posted on our Kea Research Projects page soon.
The Kea Conservation Trust cannot achieve its conservation aims without the generous contribution of our sponsors and private donors.
Generous support from our sponsors has allowed us to begin an extensive research project to estimate numbers of kea remaining in the wild, prevent kea deaths through ingestion of human made toxins and to increase empathy and dialogue on the species.
However there are currently many more unanswered questions to serious issues which impact directly on kea survival and health.
If you can help out with funding to continue these conservation efforts , please contact us for a detailed prospectus.
We would like to thank our 2008 -2012 research sponsors and partners T-GEAR Trust, The NZ Lottery Board and Department of Conservation. We would also like to thank our donors; Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund, CMaG ARAZPA, Keystone Trust, Hubbards Foods Ltd, Wellington Zoo Conservation Fund, Hamilton Zoo Conservation Fund, Canterbury Community Trust and all other individual donors and supporters.
(For a full list of our sponsors and supporters, please visit our Support Us pages in the menu).
Department of conservation and the Kea Conservation Trust are monitoring several populations of kea throughout the South Island. Your kea sightings can therefore provide invaluable information on where kea are, and if banding information is also supplied, where individual birds are.
We have 4 kea which have been fitted with satellite transmitters:
Arthurs Pass:
#68 - status active (since January 2012)
Nelson Lakes:
Chicken Little (#72) - status - not active (January 2009 - 2012)
Raglan Ranger (#73) - status - not active (January 2009 - October 2009)
Leppard (#70) - status - not active (September 2010 - 2012)
The batteries on Chicken Little and leppards transmitters have most likely run out.
Raglan Ranger on the other hand only transmitted information for 9mths. This means that his transmitter has malfunctioned, dropped off and been buried or the bird has died and is in an area where the transmitter cannot access a satellite passing overhead.
We are keen to hear of any sightings of these 3 kea and in particular Raglan Ranger:
Raglan Ranger (73)
His last known coordinates (October 2009) are near Conors Creek Hut - Mt Chittenden, (Lat -41.99377 Long 172.84841) and his bands are as follows:
Metal (Right Leg): 27-103420
Colour bands (Left Leg): Yellow/Pink
For details of our other satellite kea, please visit ourKea Research Projects - Satellite Tracking page.
Photo: Chicken Little (72) with his new satellite at Bushline Hut, Robert Ridge 2009. Photo credit: Corey Mosen
Come and visit our Facebook page, share and post your comments! This site is updated regularly with information on our research, talks and kea events here and overseas.
