| Native name: Rangatira | |
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Map showing location of South East Island/Rangatira |
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| Geography | |
| Archipelago | Chatham Islands |
| Area | 2.18 km2 (0.842 sq mi) |
| Country | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
South East Island/Rangatira is the third largest island in the Chatham Islands chain, and covers an area of 218 hectares (539 acres). It is located 800 kilometres (497 mi) east of New Zealand's South Island. The island lies off the southeast coast of Pitt Island, 55 kilometres (34 mi) southeast of the chain's main settlement, Waitangi, on Chatham Island.
Rangatira is a gazetted nature reserve, thus access to the island is restricted and controlled by the Department of Conservation. Rangatira is host to an amazing variety of rare and endemic species of birds and plants and is a sanctuary for endangered invertebrates such as the giant stick insect, Rangatira spider (Dolomedes schauinslandi), coxella weevil (Hadramphus spinipennis) and the Pitt Island longhorn beetle.[1] It is most famous for being the habitat for the endangered Black Robin, rescued from near extinction by a dedicated team led by Don Merton, who used foster parent birds to raise the chicks of Black Robin.
Ancient Moriori used to travel to Rangatira by waka korari to capture titi muttonbirds and although there are no signs of this use remaining today, such as dendroglyphs (tree carvings) or petroglyphs (rock art), oral traditions support this use of the island. European farmers ran sheep, goats and cattle on Rangatira until the 1960s when the last of these were removed.
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