One of the sufferers was the takahe (Notornis hochstetteri), a bird 18 inches tall with a bronze-green breast and rudimentary wings.
The takahe, a member of the rail family, sports green and blue feathers and a bright red bill, and nests in the snow; it can grow to around 3 kg.
Conservationists are also bringing back the takahe, a large New Zealand bird that resembles the extinct dodo, and the vicua, a llamalike Peruvian animal that has been .