Just over a week ago, this adult takahē was brought into the care of our Vet Hospital team by the Department of Conservation, as a grass seed had become painfully lodged in her right eye.
While we’re unsure exactly how this accident occurred, grass/tussocks are part of their natural diet and environment. Unfortunately, the seed was not able to come out on its own and caused her eye to start weeping, which the DOC rangers identified. Our veterinary team were able to treat it by first removing the seed and providing medications to resolve the issue.
Now that the eye is healing well, our bird team have taken her to one of our grassy habitats behind the scenes where she can recuperate and put on much needed weight before returning home to Tiritiri Matangi.
Our conservation partners at the Takahē Recovery Programme have a vision to see takahē populations grow within their former natural range, and her recovery is a win for her species as she is genetically valuable to the managed breeding programme. We provide support every year through our involvement in monitoring and health checking takahē in their northern ‘sanctuary’ sites, as well as providing veterinary care in circumstances just like this.
If you missed our video all about this conservation partnership, watch it here.
