Chalky Island or Te Kākahu-o-Tamatea is an island in the southwest of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, and is part of
Fiordland National Park. It lies at the entrance to
Taiari / Chalky Inlet
Taiari / Chalky Inlet is one of the southernmost fiords in Fiordland, in the southwestern corner of New Zealand's South Island and part of Fiordland National Park. As with the neighbouring fiords of Tamatea / Dusky Sound to the north and Rakitu ...
, next to
Rakituma / Preservation Inlet
Rakituma / Preservation Inlet is the southernmost fiord in Fiordland National Park and lies on the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. With an area of , it is the fourth largest fiord in New Zealand, after Tamatea / Dusky Soun ...
, at the southwestern tip of the
South Island, northwest of
Puysegur Point, southeast of
West Cape
West Cape is the westernmost point in the main chain of islands of New Zealand. It is located in the far southwest of the South Island, within Fiordland National Park, between Tamatea / Dusky Sound and Taiari / Chalky Inlet. The cape consists of a ...
, and west of
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...
.
The island was known to
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
as ''te kākahu-o-Tamatea (''the cloak of Tamatea), as, according to oral tradition, it was the place where the explorer
Tamatea spread his cloak out to dry after being drenched by the sea. It was first charted by
Captain James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
in 1773, and was a base for
sealers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
In 1999 Chalky Island became the first nearshore island from which
stoats
The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...
were successfully eradicated by the
New Zealand Department of Conservation
The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage.
An advisory body, the New Zealand Conservation Au ...
, and it is now free of mammalian predators and is used as a
bird sanctuary
An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as "a safe-enough place or relationship within the cont ...
. Until 2005 it was one of only four refuges of the only flightless native
parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...
, the critically endangered
kakapo, and is still a kakapo refuge. Other threatened endemic birds transferred to the island since the eradication of
stoat
The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...
s include
tieke (saddleback),
mohua (yellowhead),
little spotted kiwi
The little spotted kiwi or little grey kiwi (''Apteryx owenii'') is a small flightless bird in the kiwi family Apterygidae. It is the smallest species of all five kiwis, at about , about the size of a bantam. It is endemic to New Zealand, and i ...
, and
orange-fronted kakariki. The
Te Kakahu skink is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to the island.
Dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
s,
orca
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...
s, and
southern right whales are sometimes seen in the bay.
Chalky Island is one of the predator-free islands that is part of the
Fiordland Islands restoration programme. The programme's focus is to eradicate pests and translocate native species.
Kākāpō
The last five kākāpō held on
Maud island
Maud Island, also called Te Hoiere in the Māori language, is one of the larger islands in the Marlborough Sounds on the northern tip of the South Island of New Zealand, with a total area of .
Fauna
Maud Island is an important predator free na ...
were transferred to Chalky Island in 2003. The group was composed of four male kākāpō and one female.
Several kākāpō were translocated to Chalky Island in 2003 by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. Kākāpō were held on the island for three years until stoat eradication on nearby
Anchor Island
Anchor Island ( mi, Pukenui) is an island in Dusky Sound in Fiordland.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "large hill" for .
The island is situated southwest of the much larger Resolution Island in th ...
could be completed.
Eight female kakapo were transferred from Chalky Island to
Codfish Island / Whenua Hou in July 2004 All kākāpō on Chalky island and Pearl Island were later translocated to Anchor Island from June to September 2005, after stoats were eradicated from Anchor Island.
Male kākāpō were reintroduced to the island by the
Kākāpō Recovery Team in 2010. Female kākāpō were later introduced in May 2020 to join the 16 males already there.
See also
*
New Zealand outlying islands
The New Zealand outlying islands are nine offshore island groups that are part of New Zealand, with all but Solander Islands lying beyond the 12nm limit of the mainland's territorial waters. Although considered an integral parts of New Zealand ...
*
List of islands of New Zealand
New Zealand consists of more than six hundred islands, mainly remnants of a larger land mass now beneath the sea. New Zealand is the seventh-largest island nation on earth, and the third-largest located entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. Th ...
*
List of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another plan ...
*
Desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
References
{{Authority control
Uninhabited islands of New Zealand
Island restoration
Islands of Fiordland
Fiordland National Park