An injured kārearea/New Zealand falcon has been given a second chance after a team of relay drivers transported the bird hundreds of kilometres from near Lake Tekapo to Blenheim.

The battered bird was found on State Highway 8, near Lake McGregor, about a week ago by  woman Emilie Marinissen.

She contacted the Department of Conservation hotline and kept the injured falcon calm in a dark box while waiting for DOC staff to arrive.

“I was worried about the kārearea as it was clearly not well, and his eye was badly damaged,” Marinissen said.

DOC Principal Ranger Dean Nelson said the falcon may have been clipped by a vehicle, or injured while hunting before looking for an easy meal of carrion on the road.

What followed was described as a “whole of South Island falcon taxi”, involving several people helping move the bird between Tekapo, Christchurch, Twizel, Dunedin, Timaru and finally Blenheim.

Nelson said the relay began when DOC contacted two people travelling from Christchurch to Twizel for a meeting about kakī/black stilts.

“They were able to pick the injured bird up and bring it here,” he said.

The falcon was assessed by a local vet, who had experience with raptors and advised the bird needed specialist treatment at the wildlife hospital in Dunedin.

DOC staff then drove the falcon to Dunedin, where vets found it had a minor shoulder dislocation. However, the most serious injury was to its left eye.

“The vet’s advice was it would be risky for it to be released back into the wild as they only hunt with their eyes and it probably wouldn’t survive,” Nelson said.

A long-term home was found at the Kārearea Falcon Trust in Blenheim, which rehabilitates injured birds and had space in its breeding programme.

Nelson then put the call out to South Island DOC staff for help transporting the bird north.

“It really was like passing the parcel, getting it to Timaru first and then transferring it over to Holly Turner, who is the Manager of the Kārearea Falcon Trust, for the next leg to Blenheim,” he said.

Turner said the kārearea had settled in well and would continue receiving treatment for his damaged eye before a final vet assessment.

“Once we’re confident his eye is stable, we hope to pair him up with one of our females,” she said.

The trust has produced 87 chicks since its breeding programme began in 2013. As well as caring for injured kārearea, it works to help boost wild populations of the falcon, which is classed as at risk/nationally endangered.

Nelson said he was touched by the collective effort to save the injured bird.

“From the local vet to the drivers who took the bird to Dunedin and then north, and then of course Emilie from Takapō – that’s community naturing, caring for our native species.

“Now this lucky bird hopefully has a bright future.”