Giving new meaning to a bird’s-eye view, Air New Zealand took six young tūturuatu under its wing to relocate the rare native birds from Cape Sanctuary in Hawke’s Bay to a new home on Motutapu Island to help shore up the endangered species numbers.
One of the world’s rarest shorebirds with a population of just 250, tūturuatu (shore plovers) are endemic to New Zealand and are only found in the Chatham Islands and two predator-free islands off the coast of Aotearoa.
In partnership with the Department of Conservation (DOC), Air NZ flew the tūturuatu chicks from Hawke’s Bay to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) on 15 August 2022.
The six chicks were transported in the aircraft cabin, securely fastened in seatbelts for their flight.
Flight attendant Annalise Michie said transporting the tūturuatu was an experience she’ll never forget.
“Every day in my job, I look forward to greeting our wonderful customers but I got to greet some customers of a different, more feathery kind, and that’s really special,” she said.
“It’s not every day you get to say you played a small part in helping support the amazing work DOC does to protect the country’s unique wildlife.”
The chicks will spend around three weeks acclimatising to their new surroundings at a Motutapu Island aviary before being released to help bolster the shore plover population on the island’s shoreline.
Air New Zealand’s Acting Head of Sustainability Jenny Sullivan said the airline is proud to work closely with DOC.
“To be able to help move our precious wildlife around Aotearoa to ensure they thrive for future generations is incredibly special to everyone here at Air New Zealand,” she said.
Over the past 10 years, DOC and Air New Zealand have partnered to relocate more than 4,000 native birds, including kiwi, kākāriki and takahe, and have also transported conservation dogs, which are vital to find and keep native wildlife safe from predators.
For more info, head to airnewzealand.com