Written by: Spencer Cooper
2021
We have recently had a sighting and successful breeding of the New Zealand Brown Teal (Pākete in Maori) at Remuera Golf Club. This rare bird's population was down to as little as around 700 remaining in the world in the year 2000. Through concerted efforts of reducing predators and creating safe, clean habitats, the population in NZ has increased to between 2,000 - 2500 birds. Like many native New Zealand species, they are extremely sensitive to pollution and have little fear of predators or humans as the result of millions of years of living without these threats until humans arrived. Fortunately, people are now realizing how important they are and it is great to see their numbers starting to recover. It is interesting that they were not seen at the club prior to the commencement of our GEO program and we hope that by eliminating their predators and pollution they will find a new and permanent home with us. For more information on them check out: https://www.brownteal.com/
