Listen to the story of Māui and Tīeke!
This Māori pūrākau (legend) is narrated by the extremely talented Anika Moa and tells the tale of how the tīeke came to have a reddish band of colour on its back.
Forty years ago, Tīeke (saddleback) were at the brink of extinction but due to the amazing conservation work by the Department of Conservation and our zoo, birds were translocated to predator free islands like Tiritiri Matangi and Rotoroa Island.
Since then these birds have flourished and their numbers have increased – a conservation success story!
You can visit our tīeke in Te Wao nui a Tāne (The Forest) aviary in our New Zealand sanctuary, also home to our kākā, kererū and tūī.
