Forest & Bird is celebrating a major boost for one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s rarest birds, with the critically threatened pukunui Southern New Zealand dotterel population increasing by 52 percent on Rakiura Stewart Island.

The increase follows the Department of Conservation’s recent successful aerial 1080 control, which targeted key predators – including feral cats – that have pushed pukunui to the brink of extinction.

“Pukunui were right on the knife edge of extinction last year, with just 105 birds known to exist from a species that was once widespread around South Island coastlines,” says Forest & Bird Regional Conservation Manager Dean BaigentMercer.

Their last main breeding area is on the Tin Range on Rakiura Stewart Island, which gets blasted by Antarctic storms.

“But even here pukunui were being killed day and night by feral cats and other introduced predators. Even in one of the coldest southern summers, once predator pressure was knocked back, these birds turned up the heat, with just 91 adult birds producing 56 chicks. That’s an incredible result and a huge conservation win.”

Monitoring shows the predator control operation significantly reduced possums, rats, and feral cats which were killing adult pukunui, chicks, and eggs.

The results highlight how a critically threatened species can bounce back when they aren’t being relentlessly hunted by introduced predators.

The success also strengthens hope for future ecological restoration on Rakiura, including the return of species such as tīeke saddleback, seabirds, and kākāpō, which are reaching the limits of their current predatorfree habitats elsewhere.

Forest & Bird says ongoing predator control and national level funding will be essential to protect these gains, and it's essential that policies and politicians support nature.

“This is an incredible start, but it’s not the finish line. If predator and pest numbers rebound, these birds will be back in trouble. Continued effort is vital to keep pukunui safe,” Mr BaigentMercer says.

“Dotterels can’t vote, but we can. We need to keep our threatened native species in mind when we vote in November.”

Forest & Bird’s work across the south includes longstanding conservation efforts to protect species ranging from hoiho yelloweyed penguin and pekapekatouroa longtailed bat to the tiny freshwater fish Gollum galaxias. In 2023, Forest & Bird’s Southland branch donated $20,000 to support the Southern New Zealand Dotterel Project.

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