On Macquarie Island predation by the Weka may have been sufficient to reduce the endemic Macquarie Island Parakeets (Cyanoramphus erythrotis) from abundance to global extinction and may also have destroyed the endemic Macquarie Rail (Gallirallus philippensis macquariensis) which was globaly extinct by 1984. The crucial factor in the bird's extinction appears to have been the successful liberation of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in 1879. This led to great increases of feral cats and introduced wekas (Gallirallus australis) and presumably to greatly intensified predation on parakeets. (Taylor 1979).