A group of rare Mahoenui giant wētā has a new home after a successful translocation to the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House this
week.
The Mahoenui giant wētā is one of the world’s largest insects, measuring up to 7cm and weighing approximately 15gms.
Found in only four North Island locations, they are classified as “At risk – recovering” and face threats from
introduced predators and fire.
The Department of Conservation (DOC), Mōkau ki Runga Regional Management Committee, and the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House have
been working together on a plan to protect this unique species with the first phase completed yesterday.
DOC Senior Ranger Biodiversity Jon Sadler says the translocation from Mahoenui Scientific Reserve near Te Kuiti required
careful logistical planning and began this week with collection of 12 wētā at the site that gave the species its name. It involved staff from DOC, Ōtorohanga Kiwi House and was led by
translocation specialist Kevin Parker.
“The wētā live in gorse, so we had a team in the reserve yesterday searching the prickly plants for good healthy adult
specimens,” Jon Sadler says.
“The wētā are taonga for Māori, so representatives from local hapū Mōkau ki Runga supported us on this project and
worked alongside us on the collection. Members of Ngāti Hine and other local hapū hosted a pōwhiri at Ōtorohanga Kiwi
House when we moved the insects there.”
Jon Sadler says the work undertaken this week is the latest in a series of translocations of Mahoenui giant wētā aimed
at rebuilding the population of the ancient insects, which are essentially giant flightless crickets.
Jo Russell, Ōtorohanga Kiwi House Manager, says the arrival of the wētā is an exciting development.
“We’ve constructed a purpose-built captive rearing facility for Mahoenui giant wētā,” she says.
“The design is based on previous successful enclosures and protocols for captive rearing of giant wētā species at the
Wellington Zoo, Butterfly Creek and Auckland Zoo.”
The wētā will be off display initially while further developments are made to the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House.
“The wētā will be in a laboratory-style setting, and our plan for the future is to implement modern technology to give
the public a glimpse of these amazing creatures as part of a back of house tour,” Jo Russell says.
The 12 wētā moved to Ōtorohanga Kiwi House are termed “founders” and are the first dozen of 36 “founders” planned to be
moved to the facility over the next seven years. Captive breeding and rearing will be done in a way to maximise genetic
diversity across the batches of wētā.