Wild South - Sanctuary

Television (Full Length) – 1990

This Wild South edition joins two legendary New Zealand wildlife documentarians — photographer Geoff Moon and sound recordist John Kendrick — on a 1988 trip to Kāpiti Island. Rangers are learning about, and looking after, the sanctuary’s manu (birds), who are “biological refugees” from the mainland, escaping introduced predators. Dogs monitoring kiwi, a kākā census, and tīeke (saddleback) nest boxes are featured. The two old mates narrate the visit, which includes Moon building a bush hide, and footage of a pioneering 1964 tīeke relocation from Hen Island.

I often do the walkaway for Geoff. It fools the birds into believing that they're alone, and it's safe to return to the nest. It wouldn't be unusual for Geoff to spend 10 hours or more in the hide, observing and photographing.
– John Kendrick