South Island takahē | 台北市立動物園資訊網

Thetakahēcanoftenbeseenpluckingasnowgrass(Danthoniaflavescens)stalk,takingitintooneclaw,andeatingonlythesoftlowerparts,whichappearsto ...

Species of bird

The South Island takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand and the largest living member of the rail family. It is often known by the abbreviated name takahē, which it shares with the recently extinct North Island takahē. The two takahē species are also known as notornis.

Takahē were hunted extensively by Māori but was not named and described by Europeans until 1847, and then only from fossil bones. In 1850 a living bird was captured, and three more collected in the 19th century. After another bird was captured in 1898, and no more were to be found, the species was presumed extinct. Fifty years later, however, after a carefully planned search, South Island takahē were dramatically rediscovered in 1948 by Geoffrey Orbell in an isolated valley in the South Islands Murchison Mountains. The species is now managed by the New Zea...