Kester

This cheeky little fella is often seen with a bunch of others around the village. This kea is named after Kester—a boy who lives in Arthur's Pass village, in fact one of only four children that live there! Kester's mum and dad are highly active in conservation, are members of the Arthur's Pass Wildlife Trust and dedicate a lot of their time to trapping, weeding and APWT admin. They come and help out with kea conservation work whenever they can and Kester and his brother Asher (who also has a kea named after him) are learning all about kea conservation in their spare time. Arthur's Pass Wildlife Trust play a significant role in kea conservation and advocacy work as well as working hard to protect a range of other species. Update: November 7th 2018 - Kester was found dead at Temple Basin. He probably died as a result of a high-speed mid air collision with something. He was tested for lead (Pb) poisoning in September and was found to have extremely high lead levels in his system. Lead has numerous physiological impacts on kea, just as it does in humans (e.g. slow response times, impaired neurological function and more) which suggests his ability to respond to dangers in his environment could well have been compromised.

Sponsor

Arthur's Pass Wildlife Trust