2009 News
Here's where we present the latest updates and press releases about the Trust's activities, achievements and special announcements.
(To view the Top Stories for 2008, or 2007, click here...)
Top Stories
Kiwi Translocation
April, 2009: - Two years' of meticulous planning - and two weeks' of exacting execution over Easter - paid off for the Kiwi Project members of the Rimutaka Forest Park Trust.
Twenty live adult North Island Brown Kiwi were successfully translocated from Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf to the Rimutaka Forest Park, just east of Wellington, New Zealand.
Following comprehensive health checks and a blessing ceremony at the Wainuiomata Marae, these precious birds were released into temporary burrows in the Rimutaka Forest Park, close to our existing Kiwi population. Within an hour or so of their release, their distinctive calls could be heard across the valleys!
Their number and genetic diversity will contribute enormously towards our ultimate goal of creating a self-sustaining population of North Island Brown Kiwi in the Greater Wellington region. (More...)
Our Heroes: - So many people to thank!
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A Kiwi Called Colin
March 20th, 2009: - He used to
be called RFP3. Now renamed Colin -- after the late
For Webster-Watson’s niece Anne Manchester, having
the opportunity to meet Colin before his release was a very special
moment. “I have been able to support the Rimutaka Forest Park Trust’s
Kiwi project through my uncle’s estate. This gave me the right to name
one of the juvenile chicks being released and to be photographed with
him before he begins his adult life in the park. I am sure my uncle
would thoroughly approve my choice of name.”
Nine fully-grown kiwi have been introduced into
the
“Colin’s release is very significant to us,” said
volunteer Robin Toy. “If he survives, and he should as he is healthy and
well over a kilo in weight, he will be the first kiwi in living memory
from a Rimutaka-laid egg to grow up and hopefully breed one day too.
Once juvenile kiwi are over 1200 grams, they can defend themselves
against stoats, which are our main concern.”
Colin was placed in a man-made burrow high up in the
Park for his first night and will be monitored closely over the next few
weeks and months with the aid of a transmitter attached to the upper
part of his leg. With a range of one kilometre, the transmitters are
able to tell the volunteers whether the birds are alive or dead, how
long they have been out over night and whether they are incubating.
About 16 more kiwi are due to be introduced
into Rimutaka Forest Park on April 18. They will be selected from a
population on Little Barrier Island and brought down to
The Megalopsalis - also known as a "Daddy-Long-Legs" or "Harvestman" - is a type of Opiliones. This photo was taken in the Rimutaka Forest Park, by Kevin Alekna. (Click for a larger image)
Believe it or not, this picture is not actually one of a spider, but of a closely related group, Opiliones - commonly named "Harvestmen". The easiest way to distinguish this group from spiders is to check out the abdomen. In spiders, it is possible to see the segmental divisions. The segments are all fused together in Opiliones; the divisions have been obliterated.
This specimen is probably a Megalopsalis, says Leonie Clunie, of Landcare Research, who helped one of our RFPT members, Kevin Alekna, to identify his remarkable find. Adult males have extremely long legs in comparison to their 5 - 7mm body length - up to 16 centimetres in leg-span, in fact!
The males have distinctive and
very long chelicerae at the front; thought to be used
in their mating behaviour.
For more information about Opiliones and Palpatores,
please check out
this link:
http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/opiliones.php
