The Department of Conservation has identified that Dunedin's small population of kaka, mostly based at Orokonui Ecosanctuary, are vulnerable, and has developed a captive management plan to turn that situation around.
It identified the need to improve the population's genetic diversity as it was vulnerable to unexpected death and poor reproduction, Doc technical support officer Bruce McKinlay said.
"Losing a key female could be devastating to the population," Mr McKinlay said.
Ecosanctuary general manager Chris Baillie said as most of the birds introduced to the ecosanctuary population were from captive management populations at Dunedin and Invercargill gardens and were "reasonably closely related", receiving new "wild" genes was important.
It was hoped the kaka from Eglinton would settle in to the ecosanctuary, recuperate, and start to breed within the aviary at the ecosanctuary, she said.
"Hopefully, it will increase the viability of the population."
Mr McKinlay said the aim of the plan was to have all those involved with the population, including the garden-based breeding programmes, working towards turning the situation around to create a large, robust population similar to that at Wellington's Karori Sanctuary.
Other ways Doc would work to improve the genetic structure of the population was by trying to improve the quality of the kaka's progeny by consulting scientists to ensure some genetic diversity.
That could involve Doc, in consultation with the Stewart Island community, taking eggs from its kaka population and bringing them to Orokonui for birds there to raise, he said.
Dunedin Botanic Garden bird keeper Tim Cotter, who cares for the kaka at the garden's aviary, said the breeding programme had been given a boost with one mother rearing three of the five young that were hatched last year.
It was the first time in the programme's five years that there were two breeding pairs, and it was unusual for one pair to have produced three offspring, he said.
All the kaka bred at the gardens would eventually go to Orokonui Ecosanctuary, providing people with the chance to see them in the wild, and even at their homes.
"It will really open people's eyes, seeing them in their back yards," Mr Cotter said.
