Kākā are more than just a beautiful sight in Wellington—they’re a success story for Zealandia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and conservation as a whole. It all started 25 years ago when Zealandia's fence went up and so did the hopes of bringing wildlife back to Wellington.

The last of the captive population of pepeketua/Hamilton’s frogs have been released from their enclosure following the opening of a new boardwalk that was built to protect them from human foot traffic. This boardwalk was made possible through generous funding from the estate of John Nankervis. Lead Ranger Ellen Irwin shares some of the mahi/work that went into planning for this release.

We know that you care about the native taonga of Aotearoa and so does Predator Free Wellington (PFW). We caught up with the PFW team about Phase 2 of their plan to remove rats, possums, weasels, and stoats from the city. They’ve learned a lot and wanted to share some special tips to help out your backyard or community trapping.

Despite things slowing down in winter, preparing for the upcoming breeding season keeps our rangers busy. We provide a few different bird species with nest boxes, which mimic the natural cavities found in larger trees.

A key part of our 500-year vision for Zealandia is a towering canopy of podocarps. Podocarps are Aotearoa New Zealand’s tallest trees, such as rimu, kahikatea, and tōtara. While we generally let the forest regenerate by itself, each year, the Conservation team does some planting to facilitate the establishment of species that would not otherwise come back into the sanctuary, including podocarps and rare and threatened plant species.

Towering above visitors in the ngahere/forest, the non-native pine trees at Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne were originally planted as a forestry trial as early as the 1880s. Jo Ledington, General Manager Conservation and Restoration, shares some of the thinking that has gone into the removal of these trees.

Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne has released a captive population of rare pepeketua/Hamilton’s frogs into the wild at the ecosanctuary. This marks a major milestone for the not-for-profit and for the conservation of the species in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Some very special visitors came to Zealandia this month. These Conservation Dogs were helping sniff out kiwi for a kiwi pukupuku/little spotted kiwi survey in Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne.

The Conservation team have been carrying out their biannual Five-Minute Bird Counts (5MBC) recently, in which they count all birds seen or heard within 200 meters of various stations around the valley over a five-minute period.

The focus of the 2024 translocation was to help secure the newly establishing population in the sanctuary and to allow us to practice using a mātauranga Māori collection method called whakaweku.