The population of endangered flightless takahē has passed the 400 mark for the first time in at least a century. "While the overall population number is good news, the number of breeding pairs is a more accurate indicator of population health," she said. "The number of takahē breeding pairs shows a good gender and age balance in the population and is critical to being able to keep pushing takahē further away from extinction." About two-thirds of the takahē population is spread across 18 secure island and mainland sanctuaries. In 2018, takahē were released into the Heaphy Track area in Kahurangi National Park in an to attempt to establish a second wild population outside of the Murchison Mountains.

Source: Stuff October 04, 2019 00:45 UTC