Milford Sound
Few birds have a comeback story quite like the takahē. For more than 50 years this stocky, blue-green rail was believed to be extinct, a relic of pre-human New Zealand lost to time. Then, on a cold November day in 1948, a small team led by Dr Geoffrey Orbell walked into the remote Murchison Mountains above Lake Te Anau and changed New Zealand’s conservation history.
The takahē is still endangered, but its population is recovering thanks to decades of patient work. On our Milford Sound cruises, guests often ask about the wildlife that calls Fiordland home, and the takahē story is one we love to share. It captures the resilience of our native taonga.
A bird thought lost forever
The takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) once lived across much of New Zealand. Fossil evidence shows they ranged through both the North and South Islands, grazing on tussock grasses long before humans arrived. The introduction of stoats, rats, deer and other mammals devastated flightless birds like the takahē, and by the late 1800s sightings had all but stopped.
For decades, scientists assumed the takahē had joined the moa and huia in extinction. Only a handful of museum specimens existed, and even those were treated as curiosities from a vanished world. It would take a stubborn Invercargill doctor with a hunch, and a set of distinctive three-toed footprints in the snow, to prove everyone wrong.
Rediscovery in the Murchison Mountains
Dr Geoffrey Orbell had long believed takahē might still survive in the rugged, largely unexplored Murchison Mountains of Fiordland. In April 1948 his team spotted footprints and feathers near a remote alpine lake. They returned in November with a camera and finally caught and photographed two living takahē. The news stunned the world.
The Murchison Mountains were quickly declared a Special Takahē Area, closed to the public to protect what turned out to be the last wild stronghold of the species. This small pocket of alpine tussock habitat, tucked into the heart of Fiordland, became the foundation of everything that followed.
Building a recovery programme
The Department of Conservation (DOC) has led the Takahē Recovery Programme for decades, working alongside iwi, researchers and volunteers. The programme focuses on three core strategies: intensive predator control in the Murchison Mountains, captive breeding at the Burwood Takahē Centre near Te Anau, and establishing insurance populations on predator-free offshore islands and in mainland sanctuaries.
Stoats are the biggest threat. A single stoat plague year can wipe out years of careful gains, so trapping networks and aerial predator control are essential. Chicks raised at Burwood are either returned to Fiordland or sent to sanctuary sites such as Motutapu Island, Tiritiri Matangi, Rotoroa, and Kahurangi National Park.
Takahē habitat and behaviour
Takahē are grazers, and their preferred habitat is alpine tussock grassland. They use their powerful red bills to strip the soft bases from snow tussock stems, a remarkably specialised diet. In winter, when snow covers the tops, they move to forest edges and feed on fern rhizomes.
They are flightless, pair for life and fiercely territorial. A breeding pair will defend a home range of around 4 to 100 hectares, depending on food availability. Chicks stay with parents for up to a year, learning how to forage in the demanding alpine environment.
How many takahē are left today?
The takahē population has grown from a low of around 118 birds in the early 1980s to over 500 today, spread across Fiordland and a network of sanctuary sites. While those numbers are still small compared to common native birds, the trajectory is one of steady, hard-won growth.
DOC’s long-term goal is to establish self-sustaining wild populations beyond Fiordland, reducing the risk that a single predator incursion or disease outbreak could threaten the species. Recent releases into the Greenstone Valley and Kahurangi represent important steps towards returning takahē to landscapes they haven’t roamed in over a century.
Why the takahē story matters
The takahē reminds us that extinction isn’t always final, and that recovery takes generations of effort. It’s a story rooted in the wild heart of Fiordland, the same landscape our guests experience when cruising Milford Sound or exploring Te Anau. Every trapline checked, every chick hatched at Burwood, every tussock basin protected is part of keeping this extraordinary bird on the land.
For visitors to Fiordland, the takahē is a symbol of what careful, patient conservation can achieve. It’s a living link to an older Aotearoa, and proof that with the right commitment, lost things can be found again.
Ready to see takahē country for yourself?
The same Fiordland landscape that saved the takahē is the one we cruise through every day. Our Coach & Discover More Cruise takes you from Te Anau through the Murchison Mountains foothills and into Milford Sound, with a longer time on the water to spot wildlife and learn about the conservation work happening here. We’d love to show you around.
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