In 2010, conservationists began releasing captive-bred wētāpunga after the species survived naturally on one island; 15 years and 11,000 releases later, four generations are established on two islands

• The wētāpunga, New Zealand’s largest giant wētā species, was once found across parts of the North Island but disappeared from the mainland after habitat loss and introduced predators drove its numbers down.
• According to the Department of Conservation (DO