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The Cook Islands is blessed, much like New Zealand, with no native poisonous creatures or predatory animals - other than what you might find offshore! But there are a number of unusual and rare birds, which are not found elsewhere and of four original native birds species not found elsewhere, all bar one are now extinct.
There are few birds on the islands; most are in the hills of Rarotonga. Many birds have been driven out by the frequently obnoxious mynah bird, (called Gudgeon's Revenge, after the Englishman who brought them to the Cooks in an effort to get rid of some of the insect population).
Among endemic birds are the cave-dwelling Atiu swiftlet, the chattering kingfisher of Atiu and Mauke and the rare Mangaia kingfisher. The Rarotonga flycatcher, or kakerori, is found only on a limited area of that island and is slowly making a comeback from the endangered species list.
The Kakerori was until recently on the verge of extinction. Due to the efforts of the Kakerori Recovery Program, a population increase from 29 birds in 1989 to 140 in 1997 was documented, so it is now making a comeback.
The only mammals considered native are Pacific fruit bats, which are found only on Mangaia and Rarotonga. As with most islands of the South Pacific, rats and pigs were introduced when European explorers arrived.
These days, there is a combination of both domestic and wild pigs - if you see one tied by one leg to a coconut tree, you can be assured it is being domesticated! Rarotonga also has many dogs, some cats and goats and a few horses and cattle. Oddly, Aitutaki has no dogs - they aren't permitted due to an old law relating to lleprosy during the 1940's. While that disease no longer exists there, the law about dogs still does!
The waters around the islands are swarming with parrot-fish, sea cucumbers and humpback whales, among others.
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