Kiwi project saving chick's lives

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 679, 25 March 1997, Page 14

Kiwi project saving chick's lives

Akiwi manage ment project in the central North Island is finally showing positi ve results after fi ve years. The programme, sponsored by the Bank of New Zealand, began in 1992 with a Massey University Study looking at causes of kiwi decline in Tongariro Forest north west of Tongariro National Park.

They have successfully released the first of what is hoped will be a number of chicks back into the forest to help boost the declining population. The chick, named Te Aukaha ("the strong one") was hatched and reared at Rainbow & Fairy Springs in Rotorua from an egg taken from the forest in 1995. The young kiwi was

released half grown on 20 January at 1 2 months of age following a special ceremony involving local Iwi, Bank of New Zealand staff and Rainbow & Fairy Springs representatives. After two months back in the forest the chick is starting to adapt well to his new life as a wild kiwi. A further three young kiwi removed from

Tongariro forest as eggs or newly hatched chicks during the 1996 breeding season are currently being raised at the Rainbow & Fairy Springs breeding facility . It is hoped these birds will also be released back into the forest once they are big enough. Cam Speedy , senior conservation officer in Turangi who has been managing the

project, said rearing young kiwi in captivity was currently the only way to ensure they survive because of the impact stoats are having on kiwi chicks in the wild. "Until we get better predator management techniques in place, the survival rates of kiwi chicks in the wild will continue to be very low. It has been estimated

that over 95 per cent of ki wi chicks are killed before they are six weeks old". The Tongariro Forest project also involves intensive predator trapping but the current trapping effort appears insufficient to reduce the impact of stoats on kiwi chick survival. "The rearing of chicks in safe care to a size at which they can look after them-

selves against stoat predation is a management option which must be investigated hand in hand with new predator control techniques," said Mr Speedy. The Tongariro Forest Project is one of four similar programmes occurring which form part of 'Operation Nest Egg' as part of the B ank of New Zealand Ki wi Recovery Programme.