TAKAHĒ: Bird of Dreams
ALISON BALLANCE
Aotearoa’s redoubtable takahē were twice declared extinct. Hovering on the brink, the species was famously rediscovered by Invercargill doctor Geoffrey Orbell in the Murchison Mountains of Fiordland in 1948. His significant find of a small population at that time grabbed news headlines and sparked the Takahē Recovery Programme, a nationwide effort to rescue them from extinction.
In her new book, Takahē: Bird of Dreams, award-winning writer Alison Ballance (MNZM) charts the history of the Takahē Recovery Programme, Aotearoa’s longest-running species conservation effort. This year, the programme celebrates its 75th anniversary and hopefully, a milestone event – takahē numbers exceeding 500. Despite setbacks, mixed success and often slow progress, there have been significant wins, including a gold-standard captive breeding programme at Burwood Takahē Centre.
Formerly classed as Nationally Critical, takahē are now considered Nationally Vulnerable. This change in status is testament to the mahi of wildlife rangers, researchers, DOC, wildlife, iwi, and other supporters, who have made it their business to nurture takahē and preserve them for generations to come. Against all odds – predation by mustelids, competition from red deer for grazing, the risk of inbreeding when numbers were critically low, and more – takahē are now holding their own and making a comeback.
Often overlooked in the avian popularity stakes, kākāpō having claimed ‘hero’ status, takahē deserve to be recognised. One of Aotearoa’s two surviving giant flightless birds, the survival story of this intriguing, burly ‘swamp hen’ is one of Aotearoa’s most ground-breaking conservation stories.
Takahē: Bird of Dreams is packed with fascinating stories about the history, biology, and lifestyle of this feisty bird, described by Ballance as a “food-obsessed, serially monogamous (mostly) devoted partner and parent, whose teenage kids stick around to help raise their younger siblings.” Strikingly illustrated, this inspiring book will appeal not only to ‘bird nerds,’ but anyone with an interest in preserving our natural world.
ALISON BALLANCE is a zoologist, writer and broadcaster. In 2017 she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to natural history, film-making and broadcasting. She spent nearly 13 years presenting and
producing RNZ’s science and environment programme Our Changing World. Before that she spent 18 years directing and
producing wildlife documentaries for NHNZ and international broadcasters. Alison has written 30 books. The first edition of Kākāpō – rescued from the brink of extinction drew on her long association with the Kākāpō Recovery Programme and won the 2011 Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize. It was revised and republished in 2018. Hoki – the story of a kākāpō and New Zealand’s Great White Sharks – how science is revealing their secrets were both non-fiction finalists in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and Southern Alps – history and natural history of New Zealand’s mountain world was a finalist in the New Zealand Book Awards.
Published by Potton & Burton, Hardback, 01 May 2023, RRP: $59.99
