The commitment to partner in the rescue and recovery work needed to prevent the extinction of this rare and noble bird was made by all the Mitre 10 stores. We wanted to give something back to future generations of New Zealanders as well as all the families that have been using our stores for decades.

How did Mitre 10 Takahe Rescue start?

On March 29, 2005 Sophie Smith from Lime Hills near Dipton in Southland wrote a letter to the New Zealand National Parks and Conservation Foundation. Sophie’s letter provided the missing link between us as a nationwide NZ owned and operated co-operative and heartland New Zealand families that wanted to make a difference by helping the takahe to survive.

" Dear Hello. My name is Sophie Smith and I am 10 years old. I love the Takahe and I was lucky enough to work at the Burwood Bush Takahe Rearing Unit in Te Anau. In ten years time I hope to work with the Takahe and help rear them. To make sure that the Takahe are still alive in ten years time they will need your help. The Takahe need more space to introduce new blood lines into their breeding population. This means new buildings will need to be built this winter, before the next breeding season. Ross will do the building; the problem is finding money to buy the building materials. I hope this is where the Dawn Chorus Fund can help the Takahe. Could you please think about granting some money to help one of the world’s rarest birds? If you can provide this money, lots of people will be very, very grateful. Yours faithfully Sophie"

By June 2005 Mitre 10 agreed to support the Department of Conservation Takahe Recovery Programme through a three-year sponsorship agreement administered by the NZ National Parks and Conservation Foundation. Sophie’s letter formed the basis for Mitre 10 Takahe Rescue one of the largest business conservation sponsorships operating in New Zealand today.

How does Mitre 10 Takahe Rescue Work?

DOC’s Takahe Recovery group were aiming for a total population of 302 takahe but they needed extra funds for a range of activities and equipment. Mitre 10’s funds went towards the purchase of incubators for hatching, the construction of new holding pens and enclosures so that the chicks can grow in safety to reach a body weight that improves their chances of survival once they are released back into the wild. Helicopters flights and field trips by rangers way up into the Murchison Mountains to locate and collect takahe eggs that are hidden in nests woven from long mountain grasses are also fully funded. And, to prevent illness from reducing takahe numbers we fund vaccination and disease risk screening programmes along with the monitoring and control of stoat populations as this vicious attacking pest can eat fertile eggs.

Other ways of supporting the takahe.

Imagery - We brought the takahe images, video footage, and information material from the remotest parts of New Zealand to centre stage throughout our retail network and presented it as something to celebrate both within our stores and within the community. 

Sophie - We built a lasting relationship with Sophie who reminds us all of what is possible to achieve when we all work together. Sophie became Mitre 10’s ‘takahe champion’ and personally went on to become the Youth Hostel Association of New Zealand’s Young Conservationist of the Year. 

Competitions - In an effort to increase the participation with our local customers we launched the Mitre 10 Takahe Rescue kid’s art competition. Over 65,000 entry forms walked out the door in the first 10days and attracted thousands of entries and enabling our staff to get to know local families and their children better. 

Later we launched The Mitre 10 short story writing competition. This was open to unpublished writers of all ages and provided another platform for Takahe and Mitre 10 to get closer to their customers. It prompted entrants to research the background of the species and caused them to think about the significance of the Takahe.

Hundreds of people from all over New Zealand entered the competition. In order to be a fair judge of all the entries Mitre 10 also forged a partnership with Random House. The winning author’s story was confirmed for publication early 2007 and an illustrator was commissioned..

This book will help to keep the Takahe in the minds of the community – and the more the community cares about its native species the greater our ability as a nation to preserve them.

All competition winners gained a trip for a family of four down to Te Anau where they could see takahe first hand – both at the Burwood Bush rearing unit or, when conditions permitted in the stunningly beautiful Takahe Valley – accessible only by helicopter.

Our staff - We wanted our support of takahe to open new doors for our staff and to reward staff who have worked to build the type of relationships that build our brand.

We launched our Reach Out staff competition in 2006. Part of getting close to our customers is getting close to our internal customers, our staff, and creating experiences that build their own sense of belonging to New Zealand. The Reach Out competition was about rewarding a lucky store person to fly down to the Doc Te Anau takahe captive rearing programme at Burwood Bush and chose to either go trekking in the snow line to find takahe nests or to work within the rearing unit donning the red beak gloves and feed the hungry young chicks on a relentless roster or to go to Maud Island and take part in a takahe population survey.

Robyn Calvert, our first staff winner, described her experience as AWESOME.

We hope you all join us in helping the Takahe come out better off!