163
Prehistoric bird once thought extinct returns to New Zealand wild (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 year ago by anon6789@beehaw.org to c/science@beehaw.org
33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

In New Zealand, the return of wild takahē populations marks a cautiously celebrated conservation victory, and the return of one of the world’s rarest creatures. The birds had been formally declared extinct in 1898, their already-reduced population devastated by the arrival of European settlers’ animal companions: stoats, cats, ferrets and rats. After their rediscovery in 1948, their numbers are now at about 500, growing at about 8% a year.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] anon6789@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

I had heard the kiwi stuff, but you had me second guessing myself!

I did look up the island names since I had never heard Aotearoa before, and a few of the blurbs say there are a few hundred actual islands that make up New Zealand, but it seems nobody can agree on an actual number because they all have a different estimate.

[-] taldennz@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 year ago

Actually New Zealand has quite a few islands and more than three that are inhabited, but the three that most people refer to are North Island, South Island and Stewart Island (even though there are larger populations on others). The fourth most likely inhabited island to be mentioned is Waiheke Island (and the third most populated).

this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
163 points (100.0% liked)

Science

13006 readers
32 users here now

Studies, research findings, and interesting tidbits from the ever-expanding scientific world.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

Be sure to also check out these other Fediverse science communities:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
alyaza@beehaw.org
Gaywallet@beehaw.org
remington@beehaw.org