Kapiti Island - Present Day

Present Day

The island is the site of Kapiti Island Nature Reserve and adjoins the Kapiti Marine Reserve. Most of it is in public ownership.

The island is home to a number of native birds (mostly reintroduced), including takahe, kokako, brown teal, stitchbirds, and tieke (saddleback), miromiro, piwakawaka, ruru, weka (hybrid of North and South Island subspecies), hihi, and toutouwai. The brown kiwi and little spotted kiwi were released on the island between 1890 and 1910, and the island is now the stronghold for the latter species. Rat eradication has led to increases in red-fronted parakeets, North Island robin, bellbirds, and saddlebacks, and the island is considered one of New Zealand's most important sites for bird recovery, as well as a major breeding site for sea birds. In April 2005, the critically endangered short-tailed bat was introduced to the island from a threatened population in the tararuas, providing them with a separate, safer habitat.

Owing to the proximity of Wellington, there are regular tourist trips to the island, limited to 50 people per day, and it is an especially popular destination for birdwatchers. Having no natural mammalian predators, New Zealand birds are trusting, and a visitor to the island is likely to be rewarded by seeing a number of different species.

On 14 June 2007, one of the buildings at the Department of Conservation ranger station caught fire, sparking a major emergency operation to prevent the spread of fire to the native bush. Thirty firefighters were flown to the island and managed to contain the blaze, preventing serious damage to the ecosystem.

A stoat, an introduced mustelid responsible for decimating the bird life in New Zealand, was seen on the island in December 2010, and by August the next year the Department of Conservation had killed three of them. It is thought that they could not have swum the five kilometre stretch of open sea from the Kapiti Coast.

Coordinates: 40°52′S 174°54′E / 40.867°S 174.9°E / -40.867; 174.9