Captive breeding is one conservation method we can use to help species. However, it is a method that can only be used on some of our threatened wildlife. Many species cannot adjust their behavior to breed in captivity. For others we are able to secure the survival of the species by creating a second population – out of the wild – in a secure predator free habitat.

Pukaha Mount Bruce has played an important part in New Zealand’s recovery of threatened species. The National Wildlife Centre at Pukaha Mount Bruce has been breeding and rearing birds in captivity since Elwyn Welch brought takahe to Pukaha Mount Bruce in the 1950s. Today the centre is run by the Department of Conservation.