Programme celebrates 200th chick on Motuora

MOTUORO MILESTONE: Tohu nui is the 200th kiwi chick to be released through the BNZ Operation Nest Egg programme. It hasn’t yet been identified as male or female.

Tohu nui, an eight-day-old brown kiwi hatched on Wai-tangi Day, was the centre of attention at its release on Motuora Island off the Mahurangi Peninsula on Monday.

It’s the 200th kiwi chick released for the BNZ Operation Nest Egg programme with Auckland Zoo, the Conservation Department, and other wildlife facilities.

Eggs from nests on 22,500 hectares of private and public land around Whangarei managed by Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary conservation staff are taken about halfway through the 75-day incubation period, because this gives the eggs the best chance of hatching, says Emma Craig of the Kiwi Sanctuary.

Auckland Zoo fauna staff have become experts at incubating them through to hatching and releasing with a 95 percent success rate on 19 eggs delivered this season.

"Our off-display centre is like a busy maternity ward during summer, because we have eggs and chicks at various stages of hatching and growing," says fauna curator Ian Fraser.

"After a two-and-a-half month incubation it’s a huge buzz to see them hatch and even more exciting to see them released.

"In areas without predator control, cats and stoats kill about 90 percent of kiwi chicks before they reach six months, but the programme reduces that mortality rate down to just 17 percent," he says.

"Because kiwi can live for more than 50 years and produce about 100 eggs, the 200 kiwi chicks we’ve released have the ability to make a significant contribution to the Northland brown kiwi population."

Dogs are the biggest problem for adult kiwi, often crushed rather than eaten. A kiwi aversion programme aimed at both pet and hunting dogs in the north has had limited success.

About 1300 kiwi have been released throughout New Zealand into reserves – mainland islands like Tawharanui Regional Park in Rodney and on private land managed by Landcare trusts.

Motuora Island has become a creche since 1996. Young birds stay about a year or until their body weight reaches 1.2kg, when they are then capable of fighting off some predators such as stoats and cats.

The 80-hectare island is owned by the Conservation Department but managed by the Motuora Restoration Society.

During summer many campers arrive in boats and kayaks and take their children out with torches to see the kiwi at night, island manager Deane Williams says.

- © Fairfax NZ News