https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/08/21/wetapunga-return-to-nz-mainland-after-almost-two-centuries/
Auckland Zoo ectotherm curator Don McFarlane described returning wētāpunga, one of the world's largest insects, to the Bay of Islands as "a real homecoming".
So cute!
This is part of an ongoing, active effort to restore "wētāpunga, the largest of 11 species of giant wētā", and other species. "Last Wednesday just over 300 juvenile wētāpunga were released onto two islands in the Bay of Islands, where community conservation group Project Island Song has been working for almost 20 years to restore native flora and fauna."
Thanks should go to Auckland Zoo for establishing their re-introduction programme. Great work!!
They are so cute, it's a real shame what happened to them (the usual cause).
Hope they manage to recover to a stable population & environment.