A MESSAGE FROM THE TAKAHE RECOVERY TEAM
Jan 11, 2026
A message from the Takahē Recovery team
There are now almost 50 takahē living in the Rees Valley, with plans for around 35 more birds to join them in March and April. Establishing this new wild site is part of a collaborative effort to create one large population in Upper Wakatipu, where the now nationally vulnerable takahē likely thrived centuries ago.
As takahē become well established in the area we expect their range will naturally expand, making sightings even more common and reconnecting people with this once-lost species.
Some of the Rees Valley takahē wear transmitters to help us track them and how they adapt to new habitats. As the population grows, more takahē will be unmonitored, reflecting progress toward a self-sustaining wild population.
If anyone is lucky enough to see a wild takahē, we hope they’ll give it space, keep dogs well away, and enjoy the return of this taonga species.
Sightings remain helpful for us to understand dispersal patterns, they can be reported here https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/takahe-recovery-programme/report-takahe-sightings/.
Plans for another community meeting are currently underway – date to come. In the meantime, any queries can come to takaherecovery@doc.govt.nz.
PHOTO credit ‘alice.goes.places’
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