Over 200 wētāpunga (giant weta) were released at Shakespear Regional Park. These magnificent animals, New Zealand’s largest insect and one of the largest in the world, had previously been wiped out on the mainland due to habitat destruction and predation.

The release is a major milestone in the ground-breaking wētāpunga Captive Rear-and-Release Programme first established in 2009 at Butterfly Creek, a privately owned zoo and visitor attraction.

According to Butterfly Creek owner John Dowsett, saving the endangered wētāpunga was long identified as an extremely worthwhile conservation initiative.

“Before we embarked on our mission to help save the wētāpunga, most New Zealanders never got a chance to see this weird and wonderful native species, which are critically endangered.

“Our wētāpunga programme, along with the exhibits and interactions, has enabled visitors to experience these intriguing creatures. Today’s release is hugely gratifying for us. It brings to life years of commitment, giving these truly unique creatures a chance in their natural habitat on the mainland,” he adds.

The release will be the first time this species of wētāpunga have been relocated back onto a New Zealand mainland habitat. Previous releases have successfully occurred on Tiritiri Matangi and Motuora Islands, and plans are underway for another Butterfly Creek wētāpunga release at Tāwharanui Regional Park in October.

Butterfly Creek is working with local iwi, Ngāti Manuhiri, and Auckland Council rangers on today’s release at Shakespear, alongside community partner volunteers.

The Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust is the Mana Whenua and mandated iwi authority for the wētāpunga source site, Hauturu-ō-Toi, and both release sites. They are the kaitiaki of wētāpunga. This project is part of a wider strategy to return taonga to the mainland within the rohe (tribal boundary) of the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust. The collaborative approach of the release of wētāpunga is proving to have positive impacts in protecting these taonga.

“Auckland Council and our community partner SOSSI (Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society Inc) are thrilled to welcome the wētāpunga to our regional park sanctuary. We’re proud to be providing a new home for this ancient creature. We want to ensure this giant insect has a safe environment in which to live and breed and be accessible for the public in years to come,” says Matt Maitland, Auckland Council Senior Ranger.

Rebecca Moyle, Butterfly Creek’s Kiwi and NZ Natives Manager, is one of the keepers who has been integral to the programme.

“Our wētāpunga exhibits and up-close visitor encounters here at Butterfly Creek elicit responses ranging from ‘love them’ to ‘they are a bit freaky’ – but one thing all our visitors say is ‘WOW!’ These super-sized insects are fascinating and unique creatures. They are very active, and you can watch them explore their surroundings. Although they don’t have personalities as such, they do have unique characteristics and traits. It is bittersweet saying goodbye to some of our wētāpunga today, but we have plenty more in our breeding program, and it will be amazing to see these ones back out in the wild,” she says.

Notes

• Wētāpunga aka Little Barrier Giant Wētā (Deinacrida hetaracantha) is Aotearoa’s largest living insect (it can exceed mice in weight as an adult).
• All wētāpunga whakapapa to Hauturu-o-Toi. Ngāti Manuhiri whakapapa to Hauturu-o-Toi and are kaitiaki of wētāpunga.
• Wētāpunga were once present on the northern New Zealand mainland but due to habitat loss and predation, became restricted to Hauturu-ō-Toi (Little Barrier Island).
• Through the captive breeding and release programme first established by Butterfly Creek back in 2009, wētāpunga have been returned to several Hauraki Gulf island sanctuaries. Now it is time to return them to mainland New Zealand and we start within the rohe of Ngāti Manuhiri returning them to Shakespear and Tāwharanui Regional Parks.
• Up to 200 wētāpunga will be reintroduced to each sanctuary. They will comprise an even gender split of animals and most wētāpunga will be in later stages of maturity (being growth stage or ‘instar’ 6-7 of 11 stages). They will be 6-9 months from being sexually mature.
• This protects the wild population and increases the numerical and geographic resilience of the species by having more wētāpunga secure in more sites, spreading risk and increasing breeding opportunity.
• The wētāpunga will be delivered by Ngāti Manuhiri kaitiaki alongside Butterfly Creek keepers and Auckland Council rangers with community partner volunteers. The reintroduction will observe appropriate tikanga (cultural practice) and follow maramataka (Maori lunar calendar).
• Prior to release, approximately 250-300 bamboo refugia tubes will be mounted to trees in the release area.
• Wētāpunga are released into tubes on day of release giving them shelter until nightfall when they will explore their new homes and began foraging.
• Wētāpunga will be monitored monthly using bamboo refugia tube occupancy, footprint tracking tunnels and bi-annual spotlight surveys.

Background on Butterfly Creek’s wētāpunga Programme

Wētāpunga were once found on the mainland throughout Auckland and Northland, however due to massive habitat loss and predation they became restricted to Hauturu-ō-Toi (Little Barrier Island). The team at Butterfly Creek have been doing their bit to help build up populations of this endangered insect.

After preliminary planning and establishment work, the programme was finally opened formally by the Minister of Conservation 2009. In 2012 Butterfly Creek wētāpunga staff then helped train Auckland Zoo staff so they too could actively participate in securing a safe future for the wētāpunga. Since Butterfly Creek started the wētāpunga breeding programme, many of the species have successfully been released onto Tiritiri Matangi and Motuora Islands.

This ground-breaking, privately financed initiative ensured that for the first time ever this endangered species could be bred in captivity before being released into a select number of suitable habitats. In 2009, keeper Paul Barrett was instrumental in establishing the programme alongside Chris Green from Te Papa Atawhai (Department of Conservation). The program was officially opened by the Hon. Kate Wilkinson, Minister of Conservation at the time. The Captive Rear-and-Release Programme for the wētāpunga has played a vital role in securing a safe future for this endangered species.

Background on Butterfly Creek

Over many years Butterfly Creek has committed significant resources to animal conservation including the mighty wētāpunga, Northern brown kiwi and other endangered species as part of established conservation programmes.

Butterfly Creek is a self-funded zoo and conservation centre. Butterfly Creek does not receive any funding by way of ratepayer or taxpayer subsidies. Rather, we commit our own resources through visitor admissions and donations to achieve the most efficient conservation initiatives and outcomes.

About the new open sanctuary homes for wētāpunga:

• Tāwharanui and Shakespear Open Sanctuaries are 550 and 500 ha fenced peninsula sanctuaries, free of mammalian predators (except mice at both sites) since 2005 and 2011 respectively.
• They are New Zealand’s most visited and accessible pest free wildlife sanctuaries attracting over one million visitors each year. They each integrate conservation with public recreation and farming (and at Shakespear a municipal wastewater treatment plant and a military training base ).
• Wētāpunga will be the 9th and 6th reintroduced species to Tāwharanui and Shakespear Open Sanctuaries respectively. This is alongside recovery of existing wildlife and self-colonisation of several other species.

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