A bird thought to be extinct has been released back into the wild after 120 years

A bird long thought to be extinct has been released back into the wild in New Zealand. But this isn’t just an important step for conservationists.

Like a speck of blue, the rare Takahe bird is finally walking across the New Zealand landscape once again. However, it has recently been reintroduced to its native habitat after being declared extinct more than 100 years ago, according to The Guardian. It is a symbolic return and represents a milestone for the indigenous people.

Eighteen of the large, flightless birds were released last week into the Waimori Valley on Lake Wakatipu, an alpine region on New Zealand’s South Island. According to the report, these animals are about 50 cm long, and their habitat is mountains. Like some other New Zealand birds, it was able to evolve without competition from native land mammals, allowing it to adapt to the niche that mammals might occupy.

According to The Guardian, fossil finds show that they have been present in New Zealand since at least the prehistoric Pleistocene era, and so their age could range from tens of thousands to millions of years. The existence of takahe birds was severely threatened by the animal companions of European settlers. It was finally declared extinct in 1898. In 1948, a small population was discovered and has been cared for by conservationists ever since. More and more birds have been bred in captivity in an attempt to contain their animal enemies.

Releasing birds into the wild is an important step, especially for the indigenous Maori tribe. The first Cassidy call from Ngai Tahu – this is the Maori word – it is “unplugged for the people who live in it. The land that is there and the people of this generation has unserved Volks and denkens, for the sake of the country to have”.

The decline in bird numbers was accompanied by the violent expulsion of Maori from their lands by European settlers. Therefore, the return of the Takahi has a strong symbolic character for them and gives hope for compensation.

New Zealand is committed to protecting its unique and endangered birds, and aims to eliminate the worst introduced predators – rats, opossums and stoats – by 2050.