Kakī / Black Stilt

The kakī is a wading bird only found in New Zealand and then only in the Mackenzie Basin. It is one of the world's rarest birds, with only 170 adults surviving in the wild as of April 2021. Kakī have been intensively managed since 1981 when their population declined to a low of just 23 birds. DOC's captive breeding centre, near the town of Twizel in the Mackenzie Basin, plays an important role in the Kakī Recovery Programme. Kakī can often be found feeding in the shallows along the shoreline of many of the Mackenzie lakes.