A Different Reason To Visit The Cooks-Specifically Atiu

Exotic Parrots Return to Cook Islands

Parrot Pic

Ooops!

Hit post all too quickly.

An encouraging gesture on the part of Tahitian Monarchy to allow the export of some long extinct Parrots to remote Atiu.

Exotic Parrots Return to Cook Islands Link

AP) -- Two centuries after a dazzlingly feathered parrot called the Rimitara lorikeet disappeared from the Cook Islands, a breeding colony of the birds has been re-established with the help of the islands' royalty.

About 100 years ago after the parrots died out on the Cook Islands, the queen of Rimitara Island in French Polynesia to the east issued a royal decree that locals say saved the last naturally occurring population of the lorikeet, one of the Pacific's most beautiful parrots.

The decree prevented lorikeets from being caught and removed from Rimitara.

But now her royal counterpart, Queen Rongomatane of Atiu in the Cook Islands, has accompanied 27 of the birds on the journey back to her island.

Already, the birds have spread over the whole 12 square miles of Atiu, a coral atoll also known as Enuamanu (land of the birds) 117 miles northeast of Rarotonga, the capital of the Cook Islands.

"This was the bird that provided the feathers for chiefs and ceremonial costumes - and most red-feathered birds in the Pacific have been wiped out," Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust head Gerald McCormack said Thursday.

Four days of celebrations followed the bird's return to Atiu, which has 570 people, starting with a giant feast led by Queen Rongomatane and dignitaries from Rimitara.

"Every night and every day they feasted and sang songs and made up poems about the bird," McCormack said.

"They were incredibly excited because this bird is a traditional icon of incredible importance," he said.

The project, led by McCormack, has taken 15 years from inception - the last seven years taken up by negotiations with Rimitara people and officials in French Polynesia over the transfer of the birds to Atiu.

Many people on Rimitara had opposed the plan because they were convinced the birds would die on Atiu, he said.

After examining food supplies, plants, nesting trees, competitor birds and predator species, "I don't think there's any doubt at all about success" of the relocation, McCormack said.

"I would expect these birds to boom," creating "a little bit more of a barrier against extinction," he said.

Up to 1,000 of the birds live in the wild on Rimitara.

The arrival of the black rat or ship's rat in the region in the mid 1800s introduced a new predator for the lorikeet - never put at risk by the smaller, vegetarian Polynesian rat that is present on both Atiu and Rimitara.

All the other islands in French Polynesia are infested with ship's rats.

Ship's rats don't live on Atiu and McCormack said a program is being developed to ensure they don't arrive.

The relocation project had been aided by British Birdwatching Fair 2006, BirdLife International, the Ornithological Society of Polynesia, the Zoological Society of San Diego, and the Te Ipukarea Society - BirdLife's affiliate in the Cook Islands.

Interesting, and indeed the project sounds encouragingly well-planned and carried out.

Though to be honest it has raised my interest in Rimitara (which I had never heard before) more than Atiu!

Yes, to those not too familiar with SP bird life, there are very few indigenous land birds left due to the ship rat. Gerald McCormick, among others in the Cooks, is a leader in saving these types of birds. Anyone visiting Atiu should try to get a locally-guided tour to see the lorikeet. And while on Rarotonga (the main island in the Cooks), try to see the once-endangered Kakerori, on tours sponsored through the Takitumu Conservation Area. They have an office in town, and the Tourist Office can assist in giving you some more info on this. They also take donations.

The main website www.ck has more info on this as well.

Laszlo---There was a thriving trade between Fr. Poly. and the Cooks in the late 1800's and early 1900's, and there are small colonies of Cook Islanders who relocated to Fr. Polynesia during that period. Every couple of yrs now there is a family group that goes to Tahiti and Rimatara/Ravaivae/Tubuai (Australs of Fr. Polynesia), and a couple of yrs later those living in those islands all come to the Cooks! Rongomatane is actually a blood relative of the royal family of Rimatara. [ I had planned to go to Rimatara and Ravaivae a few yrs ago on one of those visits, with friends in the Cooks, but business commitments prevented it.] They are high islands with small fringing lagoons, great soil for crops, cooler climate than the rest of Fr. Poly. You should include it if you head to Fr. Poly. again!

Excellent story... and heartwarming.

Raro, that's if I head to Fr. Poly finally, rather than again! :-(

It's very high on my wish list though, overtaken only by Micronesia - and then for practical considerations.

And I have always wanted to go to the Australs (thanks for placing Rimatara, I don't have my Pacific books with me here) and the Marquesas, being much more interested in monutainous, forested islands than flat, beachy ones.

LOL Laszlo, I too immediately wondered about Rimitara. Here's some info from Tahiti Tourisme:

"With its 8 square kilometers, Rimatara is the smallest of the Australs islands. And one must approach pretty close to observe the peak of Mount Vahu (83 meters) with its gentle slopes. Without a lagoon, its is however surrounded by coral reefs that prevent boats from docking.

Rimatara is the least known Austral island and it welcomes the very few tourists that heard about Amaru, its main village where is located the Mayor's office. The visit of the tiny villages of Anapoto and Mutuaura requires you to walk by foot through twisting tracks. The atmosphere you will discover there is totally out of time ... when it is only 538 km away from Tahiti !

On this happy land are living 929 inhabitants, waiting with an amused impatience for the Tuhaa Pae III cargo ship that comes every 2 to 3 weeks. It fills up with supplies smaller whaleboats which, once loaded, use the waves to cross the reef and reach the beach. Sometimes, some passengers disembark too; they will easily find an accommodation in the friendly available guest houses.

One will find here all the joys of a healthful and peaceful life away from civilization, where hotels, bars, restaurants or vehicle rentals are not available."

Laszlo: I think you also have Rapa Iti on your mind! I know it is one of my fantasy islands to get to when I become rich and famous!

Sounds like we need to all charter a yacht and head to the Australs for a couple of weeks!

Actually, the most treasured thing I picked up at this year's travel expo back home is an encyclopedic "Tahiti Travel Planner" from the representatives of Tahiti Tourisme (apparently impressed by the seemingly novel fact that someone had actually visited the French Pacific before and knew more than grass-skirted girls and beaches about it), which in addition to all the usuall jaw-dropping photos had a detailed listing of all sorts of inter-island vessels, cargo ships to the remotest Tuamotus and Australs included, making dreaming about reaching those islands that bit more realistic...

The Aranui3 went to the Australs last January. It won't return there, but the owners are thinking of buying or building a smaller ship for this trip. Bernard, the Arnaui3's highly competent cruise director, told me that the sea was very rough, especially around Rimatara which has no sheltered harbor.

I put Rurutu and Tubuai on my wishlist - by plane. But then again, this wishlist is pretty crowded. Atiu is on it as well.