30 Oct 2017

Twilight love for elderly Takahē

From Afternoons, 2:19 pm on 30 October 2017

An unlikely pairing of elderly takahē have laid an egg!

The exciting discovery was made on the weekend at the Pukaha Mount Bruce wildlife centre just north of Masterton and is the first takahē egg to be laid there in more than 20 years.

The takahē was once believed extinct, but in 1948 it hit world headlines when Geoffrey Orbell rediscovered the bird high in the tussock grasslands of the remote Murchison Mountains of Fiordland.

The bird's latest population figure is at 347.

The Conservation manager at Pukaha Mount Bruce wildlife centre, Todd Jenkinson, tells Jesse his fingers are crossed the egg is fertile.

Fomi the Takahe sitting on her egg

Fomi the Takahe sitting on her egg Photo: Pukaha Mount Bruce