At least five tara iti chicks have hatched at Auckland Zoo, after staff successfully incubated and cared for eggs from one of the country’s rarest bird species.
The tara iti, also known as the New Zealand Fairy Tern, is the country's most endangered breeding bird. As of July, there were fewer than 40 adult tara iti left in the wild, including just 10 known breeding females.
1News was there to capture a rare moment as one of the eggs hatched.
“So the fifth chick has literally just happened, right, just happened. The fifth chick has just hatched right in front of our eyes,” Auckland Zoo keeper Devon said.
Department of Conservation programme lead Alex Wilson said the species population was at a critical point.
“You can’t get more endangered than them,” she said. "A lot like most of our endangered species, predation, habitat loss, a lot to do with human disturbance."
The chicks are being cared for inside a specialist breeding lab at Auckland Zoo, where staff are working around the clock to give them the best possible start.
“It does feel quite a heavy weight some days,” Devon said.
“It’s really cool though, because Auckland Zoo works so closely with the Department of Conservation and it’s such a big team effort.”
The newly hatched chicks are just days old. In the wild, they would normally rest on sand, but in the lab, they are placed on towels designed to mimic natural terrain and help strengthen their legs.
The chicks are fed every 90 minutes, with the amount of fish carefully calculated based on their age and body weight.
“They get nine feeds a day, every hour and a half,” Devon said. “And the amount of fish they get fed is based on their age and a percentage of their body weight.”
While the lab offers protection during the earliest stages of life, the risks increase once the birds are released back into the wild.
Tara Iti breed on some of Aotearoa's busiest beaches, where human activity can threaten nests and chicks.
“If you’re on our beaches and you see fenced-off areas, please stay out of them,” Wilson said. “If you’ve got dogs on the beach, keep them on a lead or under control. And then at home, you can do other things like trapping predators. It helps everywhere.”
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