It is a lesson those who work with Haast tokoeka rediscover every time they come to capture the elusive, endangered kiwi.
Yesterday was no different.
The mission was to capture six Haast tokoeka on Rona Island in the middle of Lake Manapouri in preparation for their release at Orokonui Ecosanctuary in Dunedin today.
When the birds, aged between 6 and 12 months, were released on the island sanctuary run by the Pomona Island Charitable Trust, they were fitted with transmitters which could be tracked by directional aerial.
Department of Conservation staff and trust secretary Vivian Shaw used the aerial from a boat to pinpoint the birds' general area on the island.
The dense, untracked bush-clad island is predator free and the perfect kiwi habitat, but it makes finding the birds difficult.
It took Doc kiwi team leader Neil Freer, volunteer Jamie Shippit and Mrs Shaw about two hours, following beeps from the aerial up and down gullies, to find the first kiwi's position.
A rustling indicated BJ's presence. It then shot down the gully only to be stopped in its tracks by Mr Freer making a flying tackle.
However, that was the easy capture. Four hours of climbing through steep undulating terrain and dense undergrowth - and two false alarms later - the elusive kiwi CF was still under cover.
Mrs Shaw's GPS showed CF had led the team around in a circle and then disappeared into the undergrowth.
The second team, with the help of Tussock, had more success. Not only had they found the two kiwi they were searching for, they had also come across bird HB, whose transmitter had fallen off, all two hours before pickup.
The remaining two birds were being captured from Bute and Centre islands, in Lake Te Anau. All the kiwi were to be transported by road to Orokonui in time for their release by Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson today.
