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Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 315, 21 November 1929, Page 5

The rather pathetically humorous paragraph that appeared in the London Daily Mirror on March 13 in which the writer said he had been told that the farming of the kiwi, a New Zealand flightless bird, for the table was under consideration, has reminded a New Plymouth resident that a shipment of kiwis was actually taken to England on one occasion. In the year 1905 Mr. Henry C. Wilkie, at that time Government veterinary surgeon at Dunedin, was responsible for exporting a dozen live kiwis to England. Special precautions were taken to ensure their safe passage. Several dray loads of New Zealand swamp soil were taken on board the steamer, and grubs and earthworms were buried in it. The kiwis lived on this food until thev were " acclimatised ” to eating small strips of meat. Only one bird died en route, and the remainder lived for varying periods. One of them remained alive in London for 15 years. Writing to his friend (now of New Plymouth) after the death of the last kiwi, Mr. Wilkie said that during the whole of the 15 _ vears only one egg was laid by the bird.