A kea turned up at Arthur's Pass unable to eat, and a vet in Christchurch rebuilt his beak with nail gel.

Staff at the Arthur's Pass Cafe noticed a kea behaving oddly and called for help. His beak had split vertically with a chip out of one side, and he had not eaten for days. He spent 48 days at Christchurch Wildlife Hospital, where the beak was rebuilt with fingernail gel hardened under an ultraviolet lamp. The village met him back at the community centre with a homemade lemon cake, which he did not get.

21 September 2026

Hohoro on his last day at Christchurch Wildlife Hospital, before the drive back to Arthur's Pass.
Photo: Alden Williams, via The Press

A kea that had gone days without being able to feed itself has been released back into the mountains at Arthur's Pass, after 48 days at Christchurch Wildlife Hospital, where the split in its beak was rebuilt using the gel a salon uses to extend fingernails, hardened under an ultraviolet lamp, The Press reported.

The bird, named Hohoro, was taken to the hospital after staff at the Arthur's Pass Cafe noticed he was behaving unusually, and by then his beak had split vertically with a chip out of one side, which had stopped him eating for several days, the paper reported.

The repair

Pauline Howard, the lead veterinarian at Christchurch Wildlife Hospital, told The Press that the recovery needed pain relief, antibiotics and an unusual repair technique using fingernail gel hardened under ultraviolet light, and that although Hohoro later pulled most of the material off himself, careful trimming helped restore the beak's function.

A vet in teal scrubs and glasses holds a kea wrapped in a grey towel against her body and feeds it from a large syringe, in front of a whiteboard covered in handwritten patient notes — Pauline Howard, lead veterinarian at Christchurch Wildlife Hospital, gives Hohoro his last meal in captivity.
Photo: Alden Williams, via The Press

Now he's got a very functional bill and he's eating very well. He is ready to go.Pauline Howard, to The Press

He gained about 40 grams over the seven weeks, and before he could be cleared to go he had to be eating well, holding a healthy weight and showing no sign that the injury would start to go backwards again, the paper reported.

A kea hanging sideways on the wire mesh roof of an aviary against a blue sky, gripping the mesh with its beak, orange feathers showing under the wing — A kea working its way along the mesh of the aviary, taking its weight on the beak.
Photo: Alden Williams, via The Press

Pukeki

For part of his stay Hohoro shared an enclosure with Pukeki, a younger kea brought down from Aoraki/Mt Cook with severe lead poisoning, and Howard said the two of them behaved like siblings, pushing and pecking at each other.

Two kea perched on a branch in a sunlit wire aviary, one in shadow behind and one in front showing olive-green plumage and a yellow band on its leg — Hohoro shared his recovery space with Pukeki, a younger kea from Aoraki/Mt Cook being treated for severe lead poisoning.
Photo: Alden Williams, via The Press

It is a bit sad to say goodbye, but the whole idea is to get them back out.Pauline Howard, to The Press

The village

Renée Habluetzel, a community engagement coordinator for the Kea Conservation Trust who lives at Arthur's Pass, named the people who got Hohoro to help in the first place: a cafe worker called Arietta, the Arthur's Pass Wildlife Trust bird handler Graeme Kates, and Margie Grant of the Department of Conservation.

It's lovely to have such a good team up here that does these things.Renée Habluetzel, to The Press

Residents marked the return with a gathering at the Arthur's Pass community centre and a homemade lemon cake, which the kea did not get, and Habluetzel said she hoped he would now spend more of his time in the mountains than around the village, where the Selwyn District Council is still looking at a kea bylaw and at bringing the speed limit down.

A person crouched on a lawn with their back to the camera beside a green towel and a dark cover, watching a kea standing on the grass a few metres away, with a cream weatherboard building and a stack of firewood behind — Hohoro out on the grass at Arthur's Pass after seven weeks away.
Photo: Alden Williams, via The Press

Ten patients

Howard's own summary of the whole thing was that it takes a village to care for a kea, and Habluetzel, talking about the money pressure on the hospital, put the same point the other way round.

We can't do this stuff without them.Renée Habluetzel, to The Press

Hohoro's recovery was paid for by the Christchurch Gondola team. At the time of his release the hospital had ten patients, among them kea, tūī and kererū, and Howard said it can be looking after as many as 40 birds at the busiest times of the year, with about 45 volunteers to do it.

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Written from the reporting of Luisa Girao for The Press, 17 September 2026. The photographs are by Alden Williams and were published with that article.