Wild Rooster 1 Cent Cook Islands Authentic Coin Money for Jewelry and Craft Making (Wild Chicken)

Rooster Cook Islands 1 Cent Authentic Coin Charm for Jewelry and Craft Making (Penny)

Obverse
Head with tiara right, date below.

Lettering:
ELIZABETH II COOK ISLANDS
2003

Reverse
Rooster right, denomination above.

Features
Issuer Cook Islands
Queen Elizabeth II (1952-date)
Type Circulating commemorative coin
Year 2003
Value 1 Cent (0.01 NZD)
Currency Dollar (1972-date)
Composition Aluminium
Weight 1.44 g
Diameter 21.9 mm
Shape Round
Technique Milled
Orientation Medal alignment ↑↑
Demonetized 1 May 2016
Number N# 3666
References KM# 422

Wild Chickens on the Cook Islands:

...The early vaka that travelled through the Pacific usually had chickens aboard. “That’s how they spread and we thought it would be interesting to see if they are all still the same, or if they have adapted.”

The study established that Rarotonga’s chickens are a hardy breed and the birds have adapted resiliently to the climate and to climate change.

The breed is called “Moa”, and Rere says there are two sub-species on the island – the regular backyard chicken and the wild mountain variety.

“They (the wild chickens) are smaller and can fly, but it’s sometimes hard to spot them as they live up in the trees and are good at hiding.”

The Ministry of Agriculture looked into the idea of farming the backyard variety, as suggested by the study.

“But we’ve got them running around all over the island so there wasn’t the need to ‘conserve’ them as such,” says Rere.

With no fear of the species dying out, he says Rarotonga’s chicken population is doing the opposite.

“It is increasing and one problem associated with that is that they eat marketable crops. We’ve had to distribute netting for some farmers to protect their produce.”

One solution to the problem is to eat the chickens – and they’re not as tough as they may look, he says.

https://www.cookislandsnews.com/health/local-chicken-s-potential-food-source/