- Conservation status
- In serious trouble
Staunch, rare and beautiful, kakī are in a league of their own. Once common and widespread throughout most of Aotearoa, these long-legged charmers are now only found in the braided river habitats of Te Manahuna Mackenzie Basin.
By the 1980s, kakī were on the brink of extinction, with only 23 birds left in the wild. Thanks to hardworking conservationists in Te Manahuna, there are now about 170 kakī.
Campaign Manager
The kakī recovery team
Long legs, long bill, long wings... kakī are the undisputed longest bird in the land!
Please vote for old chopsticks legs kakī, yap yap!
Kakī have fought a hard battle against extinction with a little help from their human friends.
The kakī recovery team runs a captive management programme in the Mackenzie Basin, where eggs are incubated, chicks are hatched and young kakī are raised for release into the big wide world. The team think kakī have many endearing qualities and hope to share some of these qualities through their BOTY campaign.
Note: The team are employed by the Department of Conservation but love kakī so much that the campaign is run in their own time.
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