00:00New Zealand's takahe, the flightless bird rising from extinction.
00:05A takahe steps through New Zealand tussock with a red beak.
00:09South Island valleys now hold a flightless bird once declared lost.
00:14Takahe birds push blue chests through alpine grass near Lake Wakatipu,
00:19where conservation teams return them to wild land.
00:22New Zealand naturalists thought takahe had vanished after the 1890s,
00:26until Geoffrey Orbel found living birds in 1948.
00:30Adult takahe crack, tough grass stems with thick red bills,
00:35then pull shoots from mountain tussock with strong feet.
00:38Murchison Mountains rangers watched hidden takahe nests for decades,
00:42while stoats and cats hunted eggs and chicks.
00:45Ngai Tahu leaders helped release takahe into Greenstone Station,
00:49where birds walked from wooden crates into open valleys.
00:53DOC rangers fit transmitters on takahe legs,
00:56then follow radio signals across steep New Zealand hills.
01:00A takahe pair lowers red bills into grass,
01:03and the bulky birds raise chicks without flying from predators.
01:07New Zealand breeding centers hatch takahe chicks behind fences,
01:11then prepare young birds for rugged island reserves.
01:14Predator traps line New Zealand tracks,
01:17because stoats can turn one hidden nest into an empty patch of grass.
01:21Lake Wakatipu slopes,
01:24greenstone grasslands and fenced islands now carry a bird that once disappeared from maps.
01:29A blue takahe walks into golden tussock,
01:32and a lost bird leaves fresh footprints again.
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