The first release of Wētāpunga at Tāwharanui was in October 2022. Since then a few more releases have taken place reaching a total of 1450 at end of play on Sunday 17th March, after a Show and Tell event with Butterfly Creek in the Woolshed.
The mature native bush that they now call home has plenty of places for them to find cover and it is hoped that they reproduce and become a sustainable self- sufficient population. There are over a 100 different species in Aotearoa, 16 of which are endangered. The wētāpunga was found all over the north of the North Island mainland but was deemed extinct 200yrs ago, only being found on Aotea (Great Barrier). These wētā are descendants of that last remaining population.
Monitoring is now in place to establish how they are progressing.
You learn more about these endangered species here:-
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/invertebrates/weta/giant-weta-wetapunga/
