Page 73 - 2008 NZ Subantarctic Islands

as a lock on a bin to retrieve the food inside. They will use tools to

attain their ends as well. In appearance, the kea is not brightly
colored, more like an olive-gray shade all over the body except at

the base of the tail where there is bright orange and on the
underside of the wings which is also bright orange to red. The

feathers are rather owl-like in their layering pattern. The kea is a
large parrot measuring 17-19 inches from beak to tail.

After the Europeans came, the Kea was seen as a destructive pest
who would even attack sheep. Farmers were allowed to shoot

them on sight and at one time there was a bounty put on them.
When their population plunged from 200,000 counted down to

5,000, the government put them under partial protection and
removed the bounty. Finally, when their population failed to

rebound appropriately, they were listed as endangered birds and
have been completely protected since 1986.

Their numbers are finally rebounding, albeit not rapidly. A side ,
which shows again the support of the New Zealanders for

conservation, involves the placement of the kea in specially
protected status. Before the regulation was even approved, a

large majority of New Zealander farmers and sheepherders voted
to voluntarily abstain from killing keas that troubled their

property. Instead, DOC and the farmers groups agreed to work
with each other to remove bothersome birds from their farms and
sheep stations.

Now the farmer who has a problem kea calls DOC and their

personnel come out and trap the wily bird and relocate him to his
natural habitat up in the high mountain areas. Isn’t this an

encouraging story about the Kiwi attitude towards preserving
their native species? Seeing this merry bird jumping on cars,

trucks, people’s boots, their heads, grabbing things out of human
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