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Biography: Merton, Donald Vincent

Capturing kākāpō

Three men clambering up a steep rocky bank in a bush setting with wire birdcages strapped to their backs.

Don Merton (centre) and colleagues Chris Smuts-Kennedy (left) and Ian Atkinson carrying kākāpō traps in Esperance Valley, Fiordland, in April 1974.  

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Department of Conservation

by Rod Morris

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How to cite this page

Alison Ballance. 'Merton, Donald Vincent', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2022. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/47674/capturing-kakapo (accessed 4 June 2026).