Little Barrier Island

Little Barrier Island Classes

I had never been to an island devoted exclusively to conservation, but when I ended up on Little Barrier Island, known in the local M?ori tongue as Hauturu, it didn't take long before I realized I was in a Garden of Eden. The Cook Islands are home to Suwarrow, our natural preserve located 825 km northwest of Rarotonga and home to tens of billions of sea birds, tens of turtle and shark crayfish.

My first weeks back on Hauturu were to help Dan Burgin from Wildlife Management International and Leigh Joyce, DOC's Assistan Ranger on Hauturu, to carry out a poll on the Taiko/Black Petrel Procellaria parc. When we banded the birds with Dan, we inspected his hutch for balls or chickens. I spent my second weekend working on a New Zealand storm petrel scheme with the Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust.

Interesting to see how these bird were captured by the use of high beams that enchanted the little storm bird towards the floor. I' m at home said that old mums on Mauke, one of our outlying Cook Islands, also used this technology, but that was for hens! Back home, I look forward to applying the knowledge I have acquired on Hauturu.

As an example (financially dependent), I am hoping to work on a new research and surveillance of the petrels on Rarotonga. There is little known about this type, which is a great hindrance to the development of a maintenance schedule and the start of the fight against predators. In the Cook Islands there has been little sea bird activities recently.

With my new enthusiasm and my commitment to the protection of seabirds, I sincerely wish to create a little more enthusiasm in this area, especially among our young population. There are more vulnerable birds per area or per capita in the Pacific than anywhere else in the whole wide globe. The area is home to 34 extinct birds, many more of which are in danger of becoming extinct every year.