Kiwis ill London Zoo.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 February 1923, Page 4

Kiwis ill London Zoo.

THE NEW ARRIVAL

LONDON, December 20. Just a week or two ago the kiwi from New Zealand arrived at its new home in the London Zoological Gardens. Since Llien the general public

lias seen practically nothing of the little stranger. A pile of clean straw in the corner of her stall covers her b,\ day. and only the keeper sees her during her waking hours. Her new attendant is a man who has dealt with kiwis for the past fifteen years and he is only too pleased to show his new charge. The little hall of feathers was well buried in the straw and showed only a sleepy interest in her visitors when revealed. The trouble is she has a tragedy which may mean her li'e, ; though no bird could be more carefully ■ treated. The point of her top h«ak lias been broken off almost on » let el { with the nostrils inside. Tt is meielv a matter of a quarter of an inch, , lint it has left the lower beak projecting beyond the upper a trifle, which ’naturally handicaps her in her feeding I and grubbing. When and how she met j with the accident no one here knows. ! Tt seems to have had the result of diminishing her weight considerably, for instead of being four pounds she i weighs only two pounds. | Worms and heart constitute the j kiwi’s diet. Once a day a horse is j killed for the inmates of the zoo. and j the kiwi has a portion of the heart, j This is tile most digestible of the meat available, and consequently saves the { bird from any internal troubles. However she comes out and eats sometimes during the day, which, the keeper aflinns is a bad sign. It is now two years since the last l.'iwj in the Gardens died, but she bail lived there for l’lj years quite happily. Tn TOO.I the New Zealand Government sent eleven birds. All those were housed together but within six months they had all died except one. It was considered that their instinct for pairing off and living and hunting in pairs had something to do with their loss. Tin* eonelusiou ariivt.i at was that they eon tit not thrive in larger numbers together. However, the survivor remained vigorous and healthy until just two years ago, and during her stay in the Gardens laid two eggs.

Lord Islington presented another bird to the Society later on and this one remained in the Gardens for seven years, dying in l!)l(i. This bird, too laid two eggs.

Tt is possible, in the rase of the present visitor, that Nature may harden or remedy tile broken beak in some way. but slie starts ber career here badly handicapped, and it will not be surprising if her life is a short one.