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A breeding pair of endangered takahē birds in New Zealand were found to be rearing a chick, having previously been thought of as infertile.
Described by park officials as a Christmas miracle, a breeding pair of endangered takahē birds in New Zealand were found to be rearing a chick, having previously been thought of as infertile.
With around 500 of these flightless birds left in the country, every chick counts.
The miracle happened in Zealandia, a fenced-in ecosanctuary 10 minutes’ drive from Wellington’s city center.
The sanctuary conservation team was searching for a nest in early November after a female bird named Waitaa hadn’t been seen at the feeders for some time.
They heard some high-pitched calls indicating the pair had—miraculously—produced a chick. Waitaa’s partner, Bendigo, was previously believed to be infertile.
Jo Ledington, General Manager of Conservation and Restoration, says the news was kept under wraps until the team was more confident the chick was doing well and the worst of the spring weather had passed.
“I’m thrilled that Zealandia can support national takahē recovery efforts not only by providing opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people to connect with this amazing species, but to also add more birds to the national population.”
The takahē is a relative of the rail, a ground-dwelling, amphibious family of birds with short wings, large feet and long legs. Breeding once a year, they were believed to be extinct on New Zealand’s South Island before being rediscovered in 1948. A fully-grown bird sports iridescent blue and green feathers and becomes quite fat—giving them the famous appearance, when viewed straight on, of the Earth.
At Zealandia, Bendigo and Waitaa arrived last year as a non-breeding paired couple, but after a failed nesting season, it was believed they were unable to conceive. Following Waitaa’s disappearance, Ledington and colleagues set up a trail camera in an area they thought she might be nesting in. Sure enough, the chick was discovered.
“Any chick that we can add to that population is just incredibly valuable,” Ledington told the Guardian.
It will be some time before they know the chick’s gender. It will eventually be banded and health checked, and in time, gifted a name and moved to a new home. “For now, we are delighted that Zealandia is its safe playground,” the sanctuary officials wrote in a statement.
The really quite unfortunate cuteness problem
I think it's safe to say that everybody knows about how giant pandas are at risk, but have you ever heard of the Yangtze river dolphin? No? Well, both were going extinct, but in 2006 while us regular people were donating money to save the giant panda, the Yangtze river dolphin was quietly slipping away in the wild, and was declared functionally extinct (meaning they are still found in nature reserves but not in the wild) that same year. Plants are completely out of the question in terms of cuteness conservation. Did you know that 71% of all cycads are considered threatened with extinction? 34% of conifers? Whole ecosystems could crash and burn because of our lackadaisical efforts. All this preamble to say, us humans have a problem. And our problem is that we are 100% biased towards saving what we deem cute animals, or, in conservation terms, poster species - whales, pandas, polar bears, elephants, and the like. My ecology professor brought up a great point when she said poster animals can be useful to bring in donations for broader wildlife conservation funding, but what if there's so little public knowledge about these species that they can't even attract the funding from these larger organizations? What about ugly reptiles? Amphibians? Who's going to eat all the horseflies and mosquitoes? Even then, those species eating bugs that we find annoying are still useful to us, whereas species that may be useful to their habitat at large go completely unnoticed and go extinct quietly into the night.
Dandelion News - July 1-7
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1. Despite stiff political headwinds, tribe in Colorado brings utility scale solar project online
“Over the next year and half, solar panels capable of generating 270 megawatts worth of electricity, and 180 megawatts of battery storage will be built on tribal land in neighboring New Mexico[….] They started small with residential rooftop solar. Then came a one-megawatt array that helped power the tribal casino out on the highway. […] The demolition of a nearby coal fired power plant left behind a network of transmission lines and electricity customers [so is now the site of the new project].”
2. ‘Get the Flock Out’: Nationwide Backlash Grows Against AI-Powered Surveillance Tech
“There is growing action [link added by me]—both legal and otherwise—to end the use of ALPRs across the country. According to the public information project Ban Flock Cameras, 82 Flock contracts were terminated across 28 states between August 2021 and May 2026, with 39 of those cancellations occurring in the first five months of 2026 alone. Even Amazon-owned Ring announced earlier this year that it would stop doing business with Flock Safety.”
3. On the brink of extinction, the Javan green magpie gets a conservation lifeline
“With the new action plan, developed and agreed upon by 48 songbird experts, conservation groups are aiming to protect the bird’s montane habitat, engage with local communities to address trapping, and crack down on illegal trade over the next 10 years. Conservation translocations are planned to bolster the few remaining wild populations. For around a decade, [… facilities] have bred more than 130 birds in captivity as an “insurance policy,” Owen says.”
4. The Spectacular Regrowth of New England’s Forests
“”To give you an example, Massachusetts […] is 60 percent forested today. Now, it was probably 90 percent-plus forested when the Europeans arrived, but it went through a period in which 80 percent to 90 percent of the forest was removed[…. T]he Northeast temperature rise with global warming is significantly less because we are so heavily forested […] and it all happened because of what I call benign neglect [after farmers moved to Ohio in the 1850’s].””
5. The women leading a quiet conservation revolution in a Nigerian gorilla sanctuary
“Now, the collective meets twice a month to brainstorm strategies to combat threats to Afi’s biodiversity and review existing wildlife regulations. [They conduct] patrols, targeted at uncovering early signs of hunting, logging or wildfires[… and] the women’s group investigates allegations of wildlife crimes. […] In their homes, the women are also influencing what their families eat to eliminate threatened species from the local diet.”
June 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)
Got some pictures of a Florida Scrub Jay that came right up in front of me!
While humans flew the furthest we've ever been from Earth last month, one of our most iconic flightless birds, the Emperor Penguin, was officially classified as endangered by the IUCN.
Before I forget, have you ever featured the Tamaraw? The Tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis) is the only bovine species endemic to the Philippines, specifically in the island of Mindoro. They're smaller than carabaos, with lighter markings on their face, and having shorter, V-shaped horns.
October is Tamaraw Month, and like many endemic species in the country, these solitary fellas are critically endangered, their small population confined to the Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park. Here's a link regarding conservation efforts, and I hope more people get to know about this beautiful creature and root for their survival! :)
Have you seen the tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis)?
I have now
Yes, in photos/videos
Yes, irl
I'm not sure
