Establishing Wētāpunga on Motuihe Island

We're working together to save an incredible and rare forest giant!

Watch as our ectotherm experts Don and Ben release zoo-bred wētāpunga on Te Motu-a-Ihenga in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, the third release of this taonga species to take place last year, in partnership with the Motuihe Island Trust and with support from iwi and the Department of Conservation.

It’s #EndangeredSpeciesDay today, which is fitting as wētāpunga were once widespread on the northern half of New Zealand’s North Island, before the threat of introduced predators restricted their range to just one Island - Hauturu-o-Toi / Little Barrier.

With the support of our conservation partners and iwi, we’ve been establishing wetapunga on an additional seven predator-free islands, successfully breeding over 5,000 individual wētāpunga for release into the wild.

You help to support work for Kiwi icons just like the endemic wētāpunga every time you visit our zoo – ka pai!