Photo: Cole Yeoman
Work to eradicate pests in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park has led to burgeoning numbers of kea.
The work to get rid of possums, stoats and other pests over thousands of hectares has been done by Te Manahuna Aoraki Project - part of Zero Invasive Predators.
The average flock size in the Malte Brun area in 2024 was twice that seen two years before.
Initial elimination operations have now been carried out across 30,000 hectares in the alpine zone and 4,000 hectares in the tussock dryland/farmland.
The Project now hopes to scale up its efforts over a much wider areas.
Kathryn talks to the Te Manahuna Aoraki Project technical lead for kea, Nick Foster.
