Jussy

Jussy was banded as a fledgling near White Horse Hill, Aoraki/Mt Cook in February 2020. This kea was named after Dr Gyula Gajdon - known to many in the kea world as Jussy (pronounced Yoo-see), a Swiss scientist and former head of the Messerli Research Institute's Kea Lab at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, where behavioural intelligence and social learning in captive kea is intensively studied. Part of this research was carried out between 2002 and 2009 at Aoraki/Mt Cook by Jussy and a small team of kea specialists, testing their captive-kea theories in the field on wild birds. Many Mt Cook locals living in the village during those years would likely remember the unmistakable figure of Jussy and the retro 1980s Kea Research campervan - often broken down on the side of the highway or parked at White horse hill as a mobile lab throughout the summer seasons.