New Zealand saves Cocaku from extinction

In New Zealand, animal rights activists have managed to conserve rare songbirds that have long been considered endangered. The North Island ravaged crow (North Island Cocako) is a bluish-gray bird with bright blue lobes of skin on either side of its beak. The Kokako plays an important role in Maori mythology – the indigenous people of the Pacific state. It also adorns the New Zealand $ 50 banknote. The scientific name for the subspecies is “Callaeas cinereus wilsoni”.

In particular, Nature Conservation Minister Kerry Allan said that cocoa relocations and intense predator control, which could be dangerous to birds, had contributed to the success. Describing the successful preservation project as a “teacher,” Alan said the bird’s song is “a long, slow chain of rich organ-like tones.”

When bird conservation efforts began in the late 1990s, there were only 330 breeding pairs. There are now 2,000 breeding pairs on the North Island again. “This is a true success story in the field of nature conservation,” Alan stressed, as many Māori individuals, groups and communities participated in it, in addition to the ministry.

However, the ravaged crow from the South Island (South Island Cocoa) with its orange skin is considered extinct. The “South Island Kokako Trust” offered a reward of NZ $ 10,000 (approximately 6700 francs) for information confirming that the bird still exists.