Buller's Albatross

It was formerly classified as a vulnerable species by the IUCN. But new research has shown it to be not as rare as it was believed. Consequently, it was downlisted to near threatened status in 2008. It has an occurrence range of 16,100,000 km (6,200,000 sq mi) and a breeding range of 4 km (1.5 sq mi). According to a 1999 estimate, there are 64,000 birds and there are 31,939 breeding adults. These are located as follows: 8,877 pairs on the Snares Islands, 4,912 pairs on Solander Island, 16,000 pairs on Forty-fours Island, 2,130 pairs on Big and Little Sister, 20 pairs on Rosemary Rock in the Three Kings group. The Snares Islands population has been increasing, but lately not as much as in the 1970s, whereas the Solander Island population which was stable from 1985 to 1996 has now shown about an 18% increase. The survival rate of adults on the Snares Islands increased to 95.5% and brooding success rate was 70.8%, whereas on Big and Little Sister, adult survival rate is 93.5% and the brooding success rate is between 57-60%. Buller's albatross is the most common bycatch from longline fisheries out of New Zealand, and, even though net-sonde cables were banned in 1992, squid trawlers still catch them. Finally, weka Gallirallus australis was introduced to Big Sister and may take eggs and chicks. Most islands are legally protected, except for the Chatham Islands colonies which are on private land.