Better than drone footage: NZ hikers get real bird’s eye view
A New Zealand family visiting a national park on South Island got some unexpected footage when a bird flew off with their camera.
The Verheuls had just got back to the hut they were staying in after exploring part of the Kepler Track in the Fiordland National Park.
They turned on their GoPro to film a group of keas outside the hut when one of the birds grabbed it and flew off.
The kea is a kind of parrot native to New Zealand
The camera kept recording as the bird flew, and even when it landed and started pecking at it.
The bird did not go very far and the family managed to follow its squawking and reach the spot.
And they retrieved the camera, minus some of its plastic casing but still running, CNN reported, quoting a local broadcaster.
"We just followed the sound, went down there, could see them hanging out in the tree. They'd obviously heard us coming and abandoned the GoPro -- and my son, he decided to go check the rocks... and there it was, just sitting there, still filming," Mr Alex Verheul was quoted as saying.
"I downloaded (the footage) onto my phone... It was amazing. It was totally unexpected."
The family shared the video on YouTube.
The bird had gone a distance of only about 180m, according to their comment below the video.
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