Scotty

Two kea were caught together at Red Tarns on the slopes of Mt Sebastapol in mid-March 2019. These two young birds, most likely brother and sister, were named Scotty and Adriana after a wonderful couple from the area who have been heavily involved in conservation for many years. Scott Theobold died tragically in a helicopter accident in Oct 2018, along with two others (Paul Hondelink and pilot Nick Wallis). We dedicate this to Scotty, Adriana and their family and recognise that what Scott has achieved in conservation progress has been tremendous. His work includes pioneering the use of predator detection dogs in NZ. His first work was training dogs to detect stoats—one of the kea's biggest predators.