Kea Habitat

The kea habitat map was originally created using OSNZ Bird Atlas data and kea observation data, and was ground truthed by DOC staff around the South Island. Using this data, a 10 x 10km grid matching the OSNZ Bird Data grid was populated with data showing kea presence (yes or no). The final layer was clipped to public conservation land. In 2019 Kea habitat was differentiated into "Scrounge Influenced" and "Remote" areas. Kea within Scrounge Influenced areas may be desensitised to human impacts, and more likely to ingest toxins. Thus, stricter standards may be implemented in these indicative areas when using toxins for management purposes. From 2024 onwards this data is intended to be updated annually. The extent of kea habitat is updated using current kea survey rates, at a 10 x 10km grid level of accuracy, and is clipped to the current definition of public conservation land. The scrounge influenced and remote areas are updated to account for changes in scrounge sites. The data was last updated October 2024.