A Giant Insect on the Brink of Extinction Is Making an Extraordinary Comeback
Tiredearth
13 Oct 2026
As early European settlers cleared land for farms and introduced rats, stoats, and other pests, wētāpunga disappeared from every wild refuge except Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island. Moving these giant insects elsewhere offered a way to rebuild their populations, but surveys between 2005 and 2009 found that too few remained to supply those transfers directly.