This link is for a Parrot site but gives some good insight in to the lack of a plan on what to do about the keeping of NZ Natives. It does include a small mention about fish.

http://www.kakariki.net/ftopicp-6203.html

What the.

Kakariki not a NZ bird?

Time to find the aformentioned DOC officer and teach them how to sing

One of the first things children learn when learning Maori is the "colour song" (For want of a better name..)

Ma is white, Whero is red, Kakariki green, Mango is black, Pango is too, A E I O U.

(Ripped from Google Cache..)

Kaka is parrot is it not and kakariki is green parrot?

http://www.parrot.co.nz/Parrot.NZ.artic ... ariki.html

Ha ha ha, you just brought back so many child hood memory's Marko!!

Your on the ball Allan.

On the front page there is an article about the Orange fronted Kakariki that is very interesting and worth reading. This makes me angry and sad at the same time because there are some very dedicated breeders out there that are willing to help with the recovery of our native animals but when they come up against DOC get no where. I'm offered Kakariki may be every second month and have to turn them down so would hate to think of what happens to them.

Many moons ago, while staying in a mountain hut we came accross a very secretive but intelligent looking bunch of people also staying there. When I enquired as to the bird calls coming from their sleeping area it was divulged that they did indeed have kakariki in a cage and were using them as a caller to trap kakariki in mist nets. They were trying to work out if the oranges were a different species or a colour morph--- I understood they were the latter.

Allan on the front page of the site it has an article about the orange front's and that they are a true species. Some birds where trapped and breed, the breeder of these birds believe they where "true" and not a cross, DOC had a different view so decided to put them all down. There is now breeding programs to re establish them in North Canterbury and Chalky Island.

These people were taking blood samples from the trapped oranges and testing DNA. It was in an area near Arthurs Pass. It took me two days to get any info out of them and they only came up when I put it to them that they had a kakariki in their sleeping quarters.

I think that they couldn't tell from the blood samples one-way or the other. The people that where breeding these for DOC in Nelson made the call that they weren’t a cross/hybrid or a mutant due to their size and colour of crown etc. DOC didn't listen and put them down as they couldn't prove either way. Since this happened the advances with DNA it is now known that these are a different species. If your very nice u could contact the people at Isaac's and ask to have a look but don't count on getting in which I can understand.

Just think most people don't even know that they are out there.

They didn't want people to know about them. They said they would be one of NZ's rarest birds if they were a different species and didn't want people trapping them.