South Island ‘falcon taxi’ saves injured kārearea found near Lake Tekapo

Monday, 15 June 2026

The falcon is considered “lucky to be alive” after Tekapo woman Emilie Marinissen picked it up on the road to Lake McGregor a week ago.

An injured kārearea has found safe haven in Blenheim after a woman rescued the bird near Lake Tekapo, sparking a multi-driver “falcon taxi” rescue effort across the South Island.

The bird was considered “lucky to be alive” after Tekapo woman Emilie Marinissen picked it up on the road to Lake McGregor, near Lake Tekapo, a week ago.

Marinissen rang the Department of Conservation hotline and kept the injured falcon calm in a dark box while she waited for DOC staff to come and collect it.

The falcon on one of its journeys across the South Island.

“I was worried about the kārearea as it was clearly not well, and his eye was badly damaged,” she said.

What followed was a “whole-of-South-Island falcon taxi” involving multiple drivers to get the bird to Twizel first and then Dunedin for specialised care and finally the Kārearea Falcon Trust in Blenheim, which had an opening in their breeding programme and could offer a long-term home.

DOC principal ranger Dean Nelson said the falcon could have been clipped by a car or injured itself while hunting and was looking for an easy meal of carrion on the road.

“This is where the ‘falcon taxi’ started as we rang two people who we knew were driving down to Twizel from Christchurch for a meeting on the kakī/black stilts,” Nelson said.

“They were able to pick the injured bird and bring it here.

“I then phoned our local vet. He’s Australian and has had a lot of experience with raptors. He assessed its eye and wings and advised it needed specialist help at the wildlife hospital in Dunedin.”

DOC staff then drove the falcon to Dunedin, where it was determined the bird had a minor dislocation in its shoulder, an integral part of the bird’s anatomy, essential for supporting its wings.

Bonnie from the Timaru-based NZ Raptor Trust. The trust is another that has been certified to run a breeding programme.

“The worst damage was to its left eye,” Nelson said.

“The vet’s advice was it would be risky for it to be released back into the wild as they only hunt with their eyes and it probably wouldn’t survive.”

A home was found at the Blenheim-based Kārearea Falcon Trust, which rehabilitated injured birds and had a place in its breeding programme.

Nelson put out the word to out to South Island DOC staff for a “bird taxi” to transport the kārearea from Dunedin northward.

“It really was like passing the parcel, getting it to Timaru first and then transferring it over to Holly Turner who is the manager of the kārearea trust for the next leg to Blenheim,” he said.

Nelson said he was very touched at the collective effort to save the injured kārearea.

“From the local vet to the drivers who took the bird to Dunedin and then north and then of course Emilie from Takapō — that’s ‘community naturing’ caring for our native species. Now this lucky bird hopefully has a bright future.”

Turner said the kārearea had settled in well and would receive ongoing treatment for his damaged eye until a final vet assessment.

“Once we’re confident his eye is stable, we hope to pair him up with one of our females,” Turner said.

The trust had produced 87 chicks since its breeding programme began in 2013 and as well as caring for injured kārearea, they helped to boost wild populations of the falcon, classed as being at risk/nationally endangered.