Irwin

'Irwin' is named after the Wyn Irwin Lodge, owned and operated by the Canterbury Mountaineering Club at Aoraki/Mt Cook village. Cam Mulvey named this kea after the place (see also Irwin's sibling, 'Wyn'). Cam is essentially the guardian of this neck of the woods, keeps a good eye on the local kea and keeps us in the loop as to what's happening with the kea population here. He also takes wonderful photographs, especially of kea and mountains, and encourages other people to keep an eye on nature. Mel from the VC is also on the job, keeping an eye on local kea, accumulating kea sightings from visitors to the area and entering them into the sightings database. How important it is to have locals keeping an eye on kea! A lot of kea research went on in the area until about ten years ago. Researchers from Vienna, Austria spent a lot of time around Aoraki observing kea to gain a better understanding of their behavioural biology. Several PhD students from the University of Canterbury also spent time in the area researching the then reasonably plentiful kea population. Not a lot has happened since but hopefully things are about to change! With the beginnings of the kea sighting project kicking off in other areas where kea and humans interact, and the Kea Conservation Trust's lead removal project, there will be more work happening here. Watch this space.