How to save the kiwi

This video clip gives information about the kiwi and efforts that are being made to save this endangered species.  With only 5 percent of kiwi chicks surviving to adulthood in the wild it is vital that measures are taken to protect our national icon.  The Westcoast Wildlife Centre plays an important role caring for kiwi. Here they monitor and care for kiwi  from newly hatched eggs (which are incubated at this facility) to their ultimate release (when weighing about one kilogram) into protected environments.

One mans vision.

Video link see here
David Wallace and many of his neighbours in heartland Waikato have set up a protected environment on his land creating in effect an inland island. They have done this by building a predator free fence around 16 hectares of David's land to establish a kiwi sanctuary or creche for juvenile kiwi chicks. Here they will grow and develop in a safe and protected environment before being released into the wild, once they reach a more viable weight of around one kilogram.

His long term goal is much more challenging. He wants to build a 50km fence round Maungtautari (see website here) a mountain on his land that will come to be the most significant kiwi enclosure on mainland New Zealand. This new sanctuary will eventually house arond 2-3000 kiwi.

West Coast Wildlife Centre

Koanga the first 'Rowi' kiwi to hatch at the West coast Wildlife Centre this season (Spring 2011). Seen here one week old, with kiwi ranger Fiona Gordon.

The site shown here shows the work being done on the West Coast to incubate and hatch kiwi eggs. Once hatched the young kiwi chicks will be placed in a monitored, protected environment unitl they reach around one kilogram in weight. They will eventually be released into their native habitat once their increased weight enables them to protect themselves better against predators.

Project kiwi part 2

The site shown here is a private kiwi sanctuary in the North Island at Waitaia on the Coromandel. The project managers John and Paula Williams protect the environment by planting trees and trapping kiwi predators (such as stoats, rats, weasels, ferrets, possums and cats). They collect kiwi eggs and send them to a hatching facility at Rotorua where the eggs are incubated, hatched reared for a short time and then released back at Waitaia. At Waitaia the managers also keep records of kiwis which they monitor via transmitters attached to the kiwis upper legs. They are able to do health checks on kiwi, record patterns of egg incubation, manage pest control and manage the group of volunteers that give their time to help with this project.

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust

The BNZ bank have set up a trust fund to protect New Zealand's endangered national icon - the kiwi. This site shown here gives information about the project what it aims to achieve, its progress to date and give suggestions about how people interested in the project can help with this most important cause.