Winning with critically threatened bird species

Six months in Rakiura Stewart Island. That’s all it was meant to be for Kev Carter and his wife when they took a short-term contract putting identification bands on pukunui Southern dotterel in 2015.

After moving down from the Coromandel, the plan was to decide over the six-months where they wanted to go next.

“What we weren’t counting on, was how charismatic and special the birds were,” Kev says.

When the opportunity arose for them to stay a little longer with the birds they had come to love, in the place they loved, it was a no brainer.

Kev is now a principal ranger for biodiversity for the Department of Conservation and his day-to-day job is all about threatened species work – specifically the hoiho yellow-eyed penguin and the pukunui.

Pukunui, or Southern New Zealand dotterel, is a nationally critical bird species – meaning they are severely threatened and face a high risk of extinction. The Pukunui Recovery Project has been in place since 1992, when the population was at an all-time low of 62 birds. As these birds only nest in Rakiura, work to reduce predators is crucial.

“There’s something really inspiring and motivating about working on the brink of extinction. Having something close to the edge and being involved in reversing that feels like a privilege.

“You feel like there’s a real opportunity to turn the tide,” he says, and that is exactly what the team is doing. In April 2026, they celebrated a huge milestone – a population increase of 105 to 160 pukunui – the largest since recovery efforts began.

“When you consider this is the only place they breed, [the increase] it’s just phenomenal.”

The crew counting the birds at Mason Bay became emotional when they noticed the increase in numbers, even shedding a few tears, Kev relays.

Nowadays, Kev is mostly based in the office. It’s variable and often reactive work – helping the rangers with gear requirements, logistics, working with technical advisors and sponsorships.

Sometimes he joins the rangers in the field – it’s good to connect with the bush he says. “We can make better decisions if we know the real world.”

It wasn’t until Kev participated in a work experience day at high school that he even thought about working in conservation. Having to pick three options to try out, he was stuck for a third. “I thought, ‘I do enjoy hiking, camping and the outdoors’."

Then a day of working with a ranger in the forest captured his imagination.

The easiest thing anyone can do for the pukunui, is to spread awareness and advocate. This encourages sponsorship for the programme because it’s something people care about, says Kev.

“That enables us to do more than we would otherwise be able to, in terms of trapping and having more rangers on the ground.”

They’re also happy to take some “hardcore, hardy helpers” out with them to do pest control.

The goal is to get the pukunui out of the nationally critical threat ranking by 2035. That’s 300 birds. There’s compounding returns, Kev says. The more birds you get in year one, results in more breeding pairs in year two.

“The maximum growth you achieve down the line keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

For Kev, the pukunui and their personalities make all the hard work worthwhile.

“When you see little pukunui running around, they just have a way of working their way into your heart and soul.”

Winning with critically threatened bird species

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