My Account
At first sight, the number of wētāpunga (giant wētā) detected at Shakespear Open Sanctuary four months after around 220 individual insects were released there is alarming.
Just 79 were detected in the bamboo tubes the wētāpunga were released into in October, and just 20 in November and December.
However, open sanctuaries senior ranger Matt Maitland is quick to explain why this is.
Large as they are – the largest insect in NZ – wētāpunga in the wild are tricky to find. While the bamboo tubes provided an initial refuge and potential home, many of the wētāpunga will most likely have moved out to find cover elsewhere in the bush.
Matt says while some have no doubt fallen prey to birds, the main reason for the small numbers detected in the tubes is that the wētāpunga have found new homes.
A further complication to an accurate assessment of numbers is that during the day wētāpunga usually hide, moving around at night in trees or on the ground to find food.
“We will have to wait now until volunteers do spotlight surveys in the bush,” Matt says. “Footprint tracking tunnels are also helpful. But it’s really a wait and see game, looking for them in the forest. They are extremely challenging to find, and could be anywhere. At this stage we have more bamboo tube users than other releases to Gulf Islands”
Wētāpunga, bred at Butterfly Creek, were released in the open sanctuary to further protect the wild population and increase the resilience of this threatened species.
