SADDLEBACKS GO BY AIR TO NEW HOME
(New Zealand Press Association)
BLENHEIM, July 14. Marlborough received a new species of rare bird this morning, 24 South Island Saddlebacks which arrived in an R.N.Z.A.F. Devon aircraft at Woodbourne just before dawn. The birds, in apple boxes, were in good condition. They were transferred to a waiting Cessna, of Aerial Work Marlborough, Ltd. The Cessna then took off for an airstrip at Titirangi, in the outer reaches of Pelorus sound,
where the birds were transferred by launch to the Chetwode Islands, their new home. The birds were transferred from islands in Foveaux Strait, where they were threatened with extinction by a plague of rats. Fernbirds, Robins, Bush Wrens and Bellbirds are also threatened, but the South Island Saddleback is now a rare species.
Last winter 35 were transferred to other islands in Foveaux Strait free of rats. The Chetwode islands, a flora and fauna reserve, are
administered by the PelorusKenepuru Sounds Scenic Reserves Board, but permission to land is granted only by the Commissioner of Crown Lands.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30803, 15 July 1965, Page 23
Word Count
175SADDLEBACKS GO BY AIR TO NEW HOME Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30803, 15 July 1965, Page 23
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