Rimatara Lorikeet Reintroduction Programme
August 05, 2006 — Filed in: Conservation
By Gerald McCormack, Cook Islands Natural Heritage
Introduction
It is planned to reintroduce the endangered Rimatara Lorikeet (’Ura Vini kuhlii) to Ātiu in the Cook Islands from Rimatara in French Polynesia in July 2007 to establish a reserve population. The programme is being implemented by four organisations: the Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust (CINHT), an agency of the Cook Islands government; Te Ipukarea Society (TIS), the Cook Islands affiliate of BirdLife International; the Ornithological Society of Polynesia (MANU), the French Polynesia affiliate of BirdLife International; and Zoological Society of San Diego (San Diego Zoo).
