KŌKAKO

Description

A glimpse of the rich New Zealand bird life embedded within these beautiful soaps. They are an ideal gift for that special person. The beautiful paintings within the soaps are the creation of Desiree McLaggan, who lives in rural Gordonton, in the North Waikato Region of New Zealand. All these soaps contain Moringa Oil, a valuable additive for you skin.  Moringa is well known for its soothing and healing properties for the skin. The fragrance is the delightful scent of an Old English Garden and is infused into the whole soap.

The magic of these soaps is that the picture stays in the soap for the lifetime of the soap. If they get a little dull when the soap is dry, rinse under water and the picture pops back as clear and bright as the day you unwrapped it.

These soaps make a wonderful gift for friends overseas, Mother’s Day, Birthdays, and Christmas.

These soaps are made in New Zealand using local and imported Ingredients and crafted by Moringa Meadows Homestead based in Pukekawa, New Zealand.

The Kōkako

As early as the 1900’s the Kōkako were found in most New Zealand forests. The decline in numbers in the South Island indicates that except for a few remote areas and perhaps Stewart Island the Kōkako are assumed to be extinct.

The North Island has also seen a decline in numbers, especially in the last 20 years. However, with Conservation management the numbers are now increasing. The Kōkako has been reclassified from Threatened to At Risk: Recovering.

The predators that threaten the existence of the Kōkako are mainly rats, possums and stouts. The female Kōkako is most at risk from these predators as they are in their nests for a 50 day period (incubation & brooding). Because of this more males survive, leaving less females to breed.

The Hunua Ranges Kōkako project:

With only 21 Kōkako  in the Hunua Ranges by the mid 1990s, DOC and the Auckland Regional Council started a joint project to protect the North Island Kōkako .

In 1994 there was only 1 breeding female left in Hunua. She fledged 3 chicks, marking a turning point in their recovery. With protections and close monitoring in place the numbers have grown slowly. A census in 2015 found 55 Kōkako pairs!

A large, self-sustaining population was established on Little Barrier Island during the early 1980s. This was used, together with Kōkako from other locations, to create a new island population on Kapiti Island.

A survey in 2013 estimated 422 pairs on Little Barrier Island, and in 2016 there were an estimated 28 pairs on Kapiti Island.

A third island population project began, using Kōkako from Taranaki, on Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf during 1998. In May 2017, kōkako of Taranaki lineage were returned to their ancestral home in Taranaki.

In Māori myth, the Kōkako filled its wattles with water and brought it to Maui as he fought the sun.

Maui rewarded the bird by making its legs long and slender, enabling it to bound through the forest with ease.

Ingredients

Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Elaeis Guineensis (Palm) Oil, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Glycerine, Aqua, Sodium Hydroxide, Sorbitol, Cocoamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Propylene Glycol (Vegetable Derived), Sorbitan Oleate, Hydrolysed Oat Protein, Moringa Oil, Fragrance (English Garden), Water-soluble Paper

Palm Oil: No – RSPO Palm

Vegan:  Yes

Tested on animals:  No

Contains GMO:   No

Country of origin:  USA