Covid-19: Woman breaches Auckland border, gets car stuck in endangered bird nesting site

Friday, 12 November 2021

Watch Department of Conservation staff return critically endangered fairy tern eggs to their nest after a storm in Mangawhai during the 2020 breeding season.

A woman who breached Auckland's Covid border ended up having to be rescued, after her vehicle got stuck in a sand dune at the nesting site of the country’s rarest endemic bird.

According to the Department of Conservation (DOC), the woman and her dog stayed overnight in the vehicle after it got stuck in sand at the Mangawhai wildlife refuge in Northland on October 31.

Once rescued, DOC staff escorted the woman off the reserve and called police.

DOC manager Craig Deal said compliance officers would be following up with the woman over her entering a wildlife refuge with a vehicle and a dog, both of which are prohibited and carry an $800 infringement notice.

Fairy terns, or tara iti, have been on the brink of extinction since the 1980s.

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The endemic birds are helped by Department of Conservation staff to ensure their survival. (Photo taken during the 2020 breeding season)

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The site is one of four tara iti (fairy tern) nesting sites located just north of Auckland, and it is protected by Northland Reserves Bylaws.

With a population of fewer than 40 birds, the birds have been near extinction since the 1980s and require a lot of human help to ensure their survival.

Nesting sites on shell and sand banks leave them at risk of stormy weather and high tides. The birds are also vulnerable to human disturbance.

“It’s concerning to see such a blatant breach of wildlife refuge and Covid-19 border rules, especially with the tara iti breeding season just starting,” Deal said.

The first fairy tern egg of this year’s breeding season was laid around the same time as the incident at Papakānui, another nesting site north of Auckland.

Fairy terns were once widespread but now only breed at four nesting sites in Papakānui, Pākiri Beach and sandspits in Waipū and Mangawhai.

Seven dedicated DOC rangers and multiple community groups and volunteers have been trapping for predators, fencing off nesting sites and preventing human disturbance since September, and will continue to monitor the birds and their nests during the breeding season.

In a statement, police said officers were made aware of the incident after it occurred, so were “unable to deal with the vehicle occupant” at the time.

“The incident occurred on a beach relatively close to the location of the northern border.

“Follow-up inquiries revealed that the woman had returned to Auckland. No further action is to be taken by police.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said the incident occurred on the weekend of November 6-7. However, police say it actually occurred on October 31. Updated November 16, 2021, at 2.22pm.