2 Dollars - Elizabeth II Rimatara Lorikeet

The Rimatara lorikeet — known locally as the 'ura — was extinct across most of French Polynesia by the early 20th century, surviving only on the tiny island of Rimatara in the Austral chain. A translocation effort in 2007 moved a small population to Atiu in the Cook Islands, which likely explains this issuer's interest in the species. Whether the coin followed the conservation story or merely exploited a striking subject is an open question, but the ecological connection to Cook Islands territory is genuine rather than arbitrary.