The human-dimensions ecology of parrots reintroduced to a city: the Kākā (Nestor meridionalis) of Wellington, New Zealand.
Authors:   , Gouws Johan 
Published: December 2021

<p>Conflict involving wildlife and people is globally common and is one of the more difficult challenges facing conservation. The increasing trend for wildlife to colonise, or be reintroduced, to cities increases the chances of conflict occurring. It is common for people to feed wildlife which leads to an increase in their local density. This concentrates their odours, fouling, noise, nesting, property damage and in some cases, can lead to attacks on people. Wherever they have been measured, attitudes to wildlife are generally positive and robust to some damage and conflict. Nonetheless, more negative attitudes and conflict among residents are particularly likely if the wildlife impose an economic cost. Understanding how wildlife use urban environments, what influences their habitat choices in cities, particularly their relationships with people (e.g., feeding), and how these could lead to conflict and deteriorating relationships with wildlife is essential for planning future reintroductions and preventing or mitigating conflict over wildlife in cities. Kākā (Nestor meridionalis) were reintroduced to Wellington City in 2002 and they are now commonly seen in city suburbs around the reintroduction site. The number and range of kākā appears to be increasing, as are reports of damage by kākā to public and private property. Most people report positive attitudes towards kākā, and some residents intentionally feed them. At these feeders, kākā appear to congregate in larger numbers. Recent research suggests that kākā feeding and damage may be initiating a conflict among residents, especially between neighbours who do and do not feed kākā. This can lead to deteriorating attitudes towards kākā, and native wildlife and conservation generally. The aims of this thesis are to better understand 1) which factors affect the presence of kākā on residential properties, 2) which factors lead to or exacerbate damage to these properties and 3) how damage affects resident attitudes towards kākā and avifauna conservation in general. I hypothesized that kākā will be in greater densities in areas proximal to native vegetation and close to their 2002 reintroduction site. I further predicted that the damage to properties will be more common and at a greater extent at sites where more people feed kākā. As this damage increases, it will negatively impact resident attitudes, especially where the damage imposes a cost on the resident. A postal survey sent to 600 residences at 25 stratified random sites (neighbourhoods) across Wellington City suburbs was used to quantify residents’ self-reports of kākā on properties, residential feeding activity, property damage and their attitudes to kākā and avian wildlife. A total of 309 surveys were returned (52%) with 301 entirely complete and used in the final analysis. The sites were also visited to quantify their environments, particularly topographical exposure, tree size and the number of emergent trees that were hypothesised, from my anecdotal observations and the literature, to potentially be important influences on kākā distribution. An information theoretic approach was used to test current hypotheses (models) for kākā abundance on properties and property damage by compiling a candidate set of 46 models for kākā abundance and 22 for kākā damage. A repeated measures, one-way ANOVA tests was used to determine if damage negatively affected resident attitudes. Residential feeding was found to be the strongest driver of kākā presence, followed by the proximity of native vegetation. The abundance of kākā, particularly the frequency with which kākā visit properties, was found to be the best explanatory variable for the presence and scale of property damage. Damage itself was not found to be a significant driver of increasingly negative attitudes. However, the few residents spending greater than $50 to repair damage showed significantly lower attitude scores compared to those that had no expenditures. Overall, resident attitudes towards the kākā in Wellington are generally positive. However, these findings suggest that there is a causative pathway leading from residential feeding of kākā to occurrences of increasingly negative attitudes and conflict among neighbours that are sensitive to the economic cost of damage. While conflict between people and kākā in Wellington is certainly present, it is not yet widespread. However, it is likely that instances of conflict involving kākā and people will only grow as the kākā population within the city continues to increase. There is a need to seek solutions to mitigate this conflict promptly, before it reaches a tipping point in which widespread negative attitudes will be difficult to change. Financial compensation and the discouraging of feeding are discussed as recommended solutions, tailored to findings in this thesis.</p>