Cry of the Kiwi in Capital Suburbia

Forest and Bird, Issue 302, 1 November 2001, Page 9

Cry of the Kiwi in Capital Suburbia

—KATHY OMBLER

~ eal estate agents have "been advertising homes for sale in the Wellington suburb of Karori with the enticement ‘hear kiwi calling from the veranda’. Over 100 years after little spotted kiwi disappeared from the North Island, 20 were moved back from Kapiti Island last year to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, a fenced and forested haven in the heart of Wellington city. Within months nesting was confirmed and in February this year one kiwi egg hatched. Sanctuary staff believe it highly likely that more chicks are present. Ten months after moving from Kapiti, one kiwi was caught and weighed. Although this was the height of the 2001 summer drought, she weighed more than when captured on Kapiti. ‘This, plus the fact that the kiwi were breeding in their first season here, just after they were released, suggests they have settled very well in their new home, says the sanctuary’s conservation manager, Raewyn Empson. Another 20 little spotted kiwi were relocated there in June. The successful kiwi transfer has been but one of the milestones in the community conservation project that is Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary trust’s ‘500-year vision’ aims to transform a valley of assorted native regrowth, gorse and pine trees into a predator-free sanctuary filled with mature native forest and wetlands and supporting some of our most endangered wildlife species, just five minutes’ drive from downtown Wellington. Before the kiwi release nine weka were released in the sanctuary; they were initially placed into breeding enclosures in 1998, and offspring are currently being kept apart from the kiwi population. Later came

18 brown teal and, last May, 38 North Island robin ‘flew in’ by helicopter from Kapiti Island. To date there have been no reports of them "flying the coop. Instead, the robins appear to be settling within the confines of their 250-hectare city dwelling and are now nesting. Since then, 30 bellbirds, 30 whiteheads and some tomtit have been brought to the Sanctary from Kapiti Island. This introduces an experimental phase, testing effective methods to translocate these birds. "We've done the easy releases — the birds that can’t fly, says the sanctuary manager, Stephen Fuller. ‘Now we’re onto the tough ones. A lot of the work we do will be research focused.’ The original challenge was to secure ‘the most pest-free square mile of urban habitat in the world’, as Stephen Fuller has it. The key to this has been the much-vaunted predator-proof fence enclosing the entire valley. The fence cost $2.2 million and is 8.6 kilometres long, 2.2 metres high, and is buried at the bottom to 600 millimetres underground. Following completion of the fence in 1999 the key task has been ridding the valley of its mammalian pests. Raewyn Empson, one of New Zealand’s top pest ecologists who oversaw the notable eradication of rats from Kapiti Island, was seconded from DoC to spearhead the Karori operation. Through a combination of trapping, aerial and ground poisoning, and secondary poisoning, Empson and her team, assisted initially by Wellington Regional Council staff, have established a number of conservation firsts. It is the first time 14 species of pests have been eradicated from a targeted area simultaneously. It is the first time hedgehogs have been eradicated. These

animals survived the initial aerial poison drop but proved susceptible to Talon bait, and the last hedgehog was trapped in December 1999. It is also the first time that a fence has been designed to prevent reinvasion by the full suite of mammal pests, including rodents. But there has been one setback — the return of the mice. "We have learned that mice are able to detect the smallest flaw and we will need to be eternally vigilant, says Raewyn Empson. "We still need to undertake modifications to the fence to exclude mice before we will be able to eradicate them again. Volunteer restoration teams will plant over 6000 native trees this year. New and upgraded tracks are

being constructed throughout the reserve but have played second fiddle to the birds. The Sanctury will be open on Sundays only, until the construction of visitor facilities has been completed.