Kate's Mana island
Published on Nov 06, 2015
No Description
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
The island's name of an abbreviation of Te
Mana o Kupe, "the
mana of Kupe
Photo by Edgar Barany
Mana island is a 3km (1.9mi) long, 2.17km2 (0.84 sq mi) table, with cliffs along much of its coast and a plateau occupying much of the interior.
Photo by alex ranaldi
In 1886 Mariano Vella obtained a sublease of Mana from Wright. He knew a little of farming and arranged that Harry Harris Pauatahanui would teach him sheep husbandry and farming practice. The Vella family lived in Station road, Paremata, while Mariano sailed to and from the island on most days. At first he devoted his energy to stocking the island's 536 acres (217 ha) with sheep
Photo by @notnixon
The Mana island lighthouse built in 1864 and discontinued in 1877, had been shifted to Cape Egmont. Mariano bought one remaining keeper's cottage, dismantled it and rebuilt it close to a existing store on the Eastern side of the island. In 1887 he built a woolshed that still stands. At shearing time Mary and the kids go to live at Mana. The life of the family was shattered when Mary died of a heart attack on 22 December 1889 at the age of 20.
Photo by archer10 (Dennis) OFF
The island is a scientific reserve holding many native animals and plants that are rare on the mainland. Notable species on the island include the Cook Strait Giant Weta, Shore Plover, North Island Robin, Takahe, Wellington Green Gecko, Yellow Crowned Parakeet, and Brown Teal. The most recent example is the critically endangered Wellington Spear-Grass Weevil from the Wellington south coast in 2006.
Photo by Swallowtail Garden Seeds
The Department of Conservation and the friends group are collaborating on a five-year program to establish the threatened shore plover on the island. The birds, of which only about 200 remain in the wild, are sourced from a captive population at the Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre.
Photo by beaucon
One important project is
the translocation of the Critically Endangered Whitaker's Stink from the only remaining mainland population at nearby Pukerua Bay. They are being bred in captivity until there are sufficient to form a viable and safe colony on the Mana island. On the mainland they suffer predation from mustelids, rodents, hedgehogs, and domestic cats.
Photo by coniferconifer
Recent projects have included the successful translocations to the island of Diving-Petrels, Fairy Prions, and fluttering shearwater chicks, of the progeny of sevarel transferees later successfully fledging - the first to do so on Mana island for many centuries. These species are an important part of the restoration of the island because of their nutrient inflows (free fertilizer) and the habitats their burrows provide reptiles and invertebrates.
Photo by Anita363
