Mohua responding to predator control in Makarora
Date: 26th May 2026
Three consecutive years of successful breeding, an increase in territorial pairs, and more than 55 fledglings produced since monitoring began are providing strong evidence that mohua can recover when predators are controlled.
Southern Lakes Sanctuary, alongside the Central Otago Lakes Branch of Forest & Bird, has been monitoring mohua within the Makarora catchment to better understand how this nationally vulnerable species responds to intensive predator management. The latest monitoring results paint an encouraging picture.
Three years of breeding success
For the third consecutive breeding season, every monitored mohua pair within our protected mohua zone successfully raised chicks. On average, each pair produced three fledglings, with at least 23 chicks recorded within the protected area during the 2025/26 season.
The number of territorial breeding pairs also increased from six last season to eight, despite the loss of one established pair. For a small population, this growth is significant and suggests that local conservation efforts are creating the conditions mohua need to survive and reproduce.
Since banded birds were first monitored in 2023, more than 55 juvenile mohua have fledged. While it remains difficult to track how many survive beyond their first year or where they disperse throughout the catchment, the breeding success alone is a powerful indicator that predator control is working.
The next generation takes flight
One of the most exciting findings from recent monitoring is that two birds banded as juveniles have now gone on to breed successfully themselves. This demonstrates that mohua can begin breeding at just one year of age and highlights the importance of protecting young birds through their most vulnerable life stages.
The recruitment of these young birds into the breeding population is an encouraging sign that conservation efforts are not only helping birds survive but also supporting the growth of future generations.
Signs of recovery beyond the mohua zone
Beyond the core mohua zone we’ve focused on, the species remains patchily distributed throughout the Makarora catchment, including the Blue, Leven, Ore and Young valleys. While sightings outside the protected area are still relatively uncommon, volunteers reported more encounters during the 2025/26 season than in either of the previous two years.
These observations suggest that mohua populations outside the core protection area may be recovering following landscape-scale predator control operations undertaken in 2024. Although anecdotal, the trend aligns with what conservationists know about the species: when predators are removed, mohua can recover remarkably quickly.
Why predator control matters
Mohua are highly productive breeders, but they face significant challenges. Juvenile mortality is known to be high, and the species has a relatively short lifespan, averaging around five years in the wild. Without predator control, populations can decline rapidly following rat outbreaks and other predator incursions.
The Makarora monitoring programme is demonstrating what is possible when sustained predator management is combined with long-term monitoring. The results show that surviving mohua can breed successfully, young birds can recruit into the breeding population, and local numbers can begin to increase.
Looking ahead
While the results are encouraging, ongoing predator control at a landscape scale remains essential if mohua are to recover throughout the wider catchment and secure their future in Makarora.
For Southern Lakes Sanctuary and its partners, these findings provide both validation and motivation. Every fledgling represents another step towards rebuilding a resilient mohua population, and another reminder that sustained conservation investment can deliver measurable outcomes for one of New Zealand’s most treasured native birds.
Our thanks to the DOC Community Fund, Otago Regional Council’s Eco Fund and the Leslie Hutchins Conservation Foundation for their support of this work, alongside the years of dedication from DOC staff and our partners at Central Otago Lakes Forest & Bird.
Long-term monitoring is critical to understanding how mohua populations respond to conservation management, and these results would not be possible without their commitment to protecting New Zealand’s threatened species.
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