The Great Kererū Count is almost here and we are reaching out to schools to ask for their help to get Dunedin’s Kererū on the maps!

The Great Kererū Count (GKC) is New Zealand’s largest annual citizen science project that encourages New Zealanders to count the Kererū that are present (or not present) in their neighbourhoods. This information helps us build up a picture about how our local and national Kererū populations are doing.

Did you Know?

Kererū are protected birds that are endemic to New Zealand. Their numbers today are much lower than the flocks reported from 50-100 years ago. Kererū play a crucial role in dispersing the large fruits of our native trees such as tawa, taraire, matai and many more! No other mainlaind bird is large enough to fulfil this function making them essential for forest regeneration.

Get your Tamariki involved!

We encourage students to get outside with friends and family, connecting science, nature, and conservation efforts in Dunedin. We invite all forest explorers-students, families, teachers, and schools-to join the Kererū Club!

The Kererū Club (created by the Predator Free Dunedin Project - City Sanctuary) will connect our young people (and our young at heart) with the native birds in our own backyard! By joining the Kererū Club, students and their families will receive egg-cellent emails with Kereru themed activities, games, and feathery factoids for your school or home. Make origami Kereru, build a tracking tunnel to count kererū predators, learn to become a “citizen scientist”, and join the Great Kererū Count between the 18-27th September in Dunedin. All you need is a love for Kererū. As a Kererū Club member, you will also receive native trees for your school, or community. This is our way to thank you for your efforts as kaitiakitanga, as a Kererū protector.

Ka mihi nui,

The City Sanctuary team