FAQs - Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Weka are part of the Chatham Island identity. Indeed, people born on Chatham Island call themselves "Weka", as opposed to "Kiwi" for people born on the New Zealand mainland. And so it is a surprise to many people that weka are not native to the Chatham Islands and that they can be hunted.

Weka belong to a group of birds called rails. The Chatham Islands originally had seven species of rail but now (following the arrival of humans) there are only 3 surviving species - pukeko, spotless crake and marsh crake. The three surviving species are widely distributed throughout New Zealand and the southwest Pacific, reaching the edge of their range on the Chatham Islands.

Weka are flightless rails, about one kilogram in weight, that originally occurred throughout mainland New Zealand, including Stewart Island. The four subspecies that are currently recognised have declined throughout much of their ranges, with buff weka becoming extinct in the South Island by 1930. Causes of population declines are likely to include predation by dogs, ferrets and stoats, disease, and food shortages during droughts.

Weka