Kapiti Island is a small but conspicuous island about 8 km (5 miles) off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand. The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island It is 10 kilometres long, running south-west/north-east, and roughly 2 kilometres wide, being more or less rectangular in shape, and has an area of 19. 65 km² (7. 6 sq miles).
The island is separated from the mainland by the Rauoterangi channel. The highest point on the island is Tuteremoana, 521 m. The seaward (west) side of the island is particularly rocky and has high cliffs, some hundreds of metres high, that drop straight into the sea. The cliffs are subject to very strong prevailing westerly winds and the scrubby vegetation that grows there is low and stunted due to these harsh environmental conditions. A cross-section of the island would show almost a right-angled triangle, revealing its origins from lying on a fault line (part of the same ridge as the Tararua Range). The Tararua Range (often referred to as the Tararua Ranges) is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand which form
The island's vegetation is dominated by scrub and forest of kohekohe, tawa, and kanuka. Scrubland is a Plant community characterized by scrub Vegetation. A forest is an area with a high density of Trees There are many definitions of a forest based on various criteria This page relates to the indigenous flora of New Zealand. New Zealand 's Geographical isolation has meant the Country has developed a unique variety Kunzea ericoides ( Kānuka or White tea-tree) is a tree which is endemic to New Zealand. Most of the forest is naturally regenerating after years of burn-offs and farming, but some areas of original bush with 30 m (100 ft) trees remain.
Its name has been used since 1989 by the Kapiti Coast District Council, which includes towns such as Paraparaumu and Waikanae. Features Apart from Kapiti Island perhaps the most visible features of the Kapiti Coast are Paraparaumu Airport and Queen Elizabeth Park Born in Paraparaumu Wayne McIndoe - Field Hockey Player Andrew Niccol - Film Director Christian Cullen - All Black Waikanae (pronounced Why-kah-nye is a small town on New Zealand's Kapiti Coast.
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History
In the 1700s and 1800s Māori settled on the island. This article discusses the Māori people of New Zealand For their language see Māori language, and for other meanings see Māori (disambiguation. Te Rauparaha formed a base here, and his Ngāti Toa tribe regularly sailed in canoes on raiding journeys up to the Whanganui River and down to Marlborough. Te Rauparaha (1760s-1849 was a Māori chief and war leader of the Ngati Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars. Ngāti Toa ( Ngāti Toarangatira) an Iwi ( New Zealand Māori tribe traces its descent from the eponymous ancestor Toarangatira The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. Geography Marlborough's geography can be roughly divided into four sections
The sea nearby was a nursery for whales, and during whaling times 2,000 people were based on the island. Oil was melted from the blubber and shipped to America for use in machinery, pre petroleum. Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit Few whales are seen there now.
The conservation potential of the island was seen as early as 1870. It was reserved as a bird sanctuary in 1897 but it was not until 1987 that the New Zealand Department of Conservation took over the island. The Department of Conservation (In Māori, Te Papa Atawhai) commonly known by its acronym " DOC " is the state sector organisation In the 1980s and 1990s efforts were made to return the island to a natural state; first sheep and possums were removed. The ecological restoration of islands, or island restoration, is the application of the principles of Ecological restoration to Islands and island groups The Common Brushtail Possum ( Trichosurus vulpecula, from the Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox" is the largest In an action few thought possible for an island of its size, rats were eradicated in 1998. Rats are various medium sized long-tailed Rodents of the superfamily Muroidea
In 2003 the anonymous Biodiversity Action Group claimed to have released 11 possums on the island. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. No evidence of the introduced possums has been found.
Present day
The island is the site of Kapiti Island Nature Reserve and adjoins Kapiti Marine Reserve. Most of it is in public ownership.
The island is home to a number of native birds (mostly re-introduced), including takahe, kokako, brown teal, stitchbirds, and tieke (saddleback), miromiro, piwakawaka, ruru, weka (hybrid of North and South Island subspecies), hihi, and toutouwai. The Takahē or South Island Takahē, Porphyrio hochstetteri is a Flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand and belonging to the rail family The Kōkako ( Callaeas cinerea) is a forest Bird which is endemic to New Zealand. The Brown Teal ( Anas chlorotis) or New Zealand Teal, is a Species of Dabbling duck of the genus Anas. The Stitchbird or Hihi ( Notiomystis cincta) is a rare Honeyeater -like Bird endemic to the North Island and adjacent The Tieke or Saddleback Philesturnus carunculatus is a previously rare and endangered New Zealand Bird of the family Callaeidae The Tomtit, Petroica macrocephala, is a small Passerine bird in the family Petroicidae, the Australian robins The Grey Fantail ( Rhipidura fuliginosa) is a small insectivorous bird The Weka or woodhen ( Gallirallus australis) is a Flightless bird species of the rail family. The Stitchbird or Hihi ( Notiomystis cincta) is a rare Honeyeater -like Bird endemic to the North Island and adjacent The North Island Robin ( Petroica longipes) is a species of Australasian robin endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. 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. The North Island Brown Kiwi, Apteryx mantelli or Apteryx australis before 2000 (and still in some sources is a species of Kiwi that is widespread The Little Spotted Kiwi ( Apteryx owenii) is a small species of Kiwi originally from South Island (what is known is they used to live near Rat eradication has led to increases in Red-crowned Parakeets, North Island Robins, 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. Not to be confused with the Red-crowned Parakeet (Pyrrhura roseifrons from South America The North Island Robin ( Petroica longipes) is a species of Australasian robin endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. The New Zealand Bellbird ( Korimako) is a Passerine Bird endemic to New Zealand. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island A seabird colony is a site which Seabirds visit to breed typically during the summer 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. The New Zealand short-tailed Bats are the Mystacinidae family of bats The Tararua Range (often referred to as the Tararua Ranges) is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand which form
Due 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 bird-watchers. Wellington (ˈwælɪŋtən is the Capital of New Zealand, the country's second largest urban area, the Birdwatching or birding is the observation and study of Birds with the naked eye or through a visual enhancement device like Binoculars. 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 species.
On 2007-06-14 one of the buildings at the DOC ranger station caught fire, sparking a major emergency operation to prevent the spread of fire to the native bush. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1276 - While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the 30 firefighters were flown to the island and managed to contain the blaze, preventing serious damage to the ecosystem. [1]
External links
References
- "Kapiti", Chris Maclean, The Whitcombe press, 1999
- ^ Kay Blundel, Mass effort quells Kapiti Island fire, Dominion Post, 15 June 2007. WikiMapia is an online Map and Satellite imaging resource that combines Google Maps with a Wiki system allowing users to add information Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Accessed 15 June 2007. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
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