Tongan megapode factors that caused its decline in the rest of Polynesia. Its eggs are still harvested by local people in spite of theoretical government protection, and some hunting still occurs. The species is apparently afforded some protection by the difficulty in reaching its habitat. Because of the vulnerability of the single population an attempt was made to translocate eggs of this species to new islands, Late and Fonualei. The translocation was successful on Fonualei and an estimated 350–500 birds now breed there, but surveys of Late subsequently found that the translocation there had failed. Tongan megapode The Tongan megapode ("Megapodius pritchardii")
Tongan megapode in Polynesia. Similar extinctions occurred in Fiji and New Caledonia, which apparently had three species in prehistory. The species itself once had a more widespread distribution, occurring across most of Tonga, Samoa and Niue. The cause of all these extinctions and declines was the arrival of humans on the islands, and the associated predation on adults and particularly eggs, as well as predation by introduced species. On Niuafo'ou the small human population and remoteness of its habitat probably saved the species. The only megapode to survive human arrival in Western Polynesia, "the megapode nesting grounds were carefully controlled by the