Rare kiwi released on West Coast after existing sanctuary runs out of space

Friday, 14 December 2018

Twenty-seven rowi kiwi have been released into a new area near Fox Glacier because the existing sanctuary is full with 600 birds, up from only 160 a decade ago.

Twenty-seven rare rowi kiwi have been released into a new area on the West Coast because their only existing sanctuary is full.

DOC senior biodiversity ranger Guinevere Coleman said 27 juvenile adult birds were released into the Omoeroa ranges, north of Franz Josef, on Thursday.

The release was significant because it was a completely new area on the mainland for a rowi population to be established.

A Department of Conservation ranger holds a rowi kiwi before it is released near Fox Glacier.

Rowi were once widespread over much of the South Island's West Coast and the North Island's East Coast, but predators and loss of habitat put them on the verge of extinction 20 years ago.

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Twenty-seven rowi kiwi were released into a new site near Fox Glacier on Thursday.

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The Department of Conservation (DOC) began Operation Nest Egg in 2006 when only 160 birds remained in the South Ōkārito Forest, near Franz Josef. Stoats were eating up to 95 per cent of their chicks.

The kiwi will be monitored in their new home through smart transmitters.

The project involves monitoring birds and taking eggs to hatch in captivity. Young birds are then released onto predator-free islands in the Marlborough Sounds and returned to Ōkārito when they are big enough to fend off predators.

It has been so successful that DOC has had to find a new home for the expanded population. The rowi remains the rarest of the five species of kiwi, but the population is now estimated to be about 600.

Barbara Vaea, of Te Runanga ō Makaawhio, blesses a rowi kiwi before it is released into a new site near Fox Glacier.

'We expect locals to be able to hear rowi near town and around Lake Matheson as the population becomes established,' Coleman said.

The Lake Gault track was being restored so visitors could also hear the kiwi.

The kiwi were raised on an island in the Marlborough Sounds until they were big enough to fend off predators.

Te Runanga ō Makaawhio representative Caleb Robinson said the release was 'really special' for all New Zealanders.

'It's very exciting that we are going to start hearing kiwi in this area again.'

The rowi kiwi's threat classification status has improved from nationally critical to nationally vulnerable.

The kiwi were released in three areas 2 kilometres apart to give them enough space, while also ensuring they can still hear each other calling out.

He released one of the birds on Thursday and was surprised by how strong it was.

'It nearly kicked its way out of my hands. It was a very special moment.'

Five children from Fox Glacier school, which has a total roll of eight, also got to help release the birds near Lake Gault and named them after South Westland identities.

Heidi Jarvis, 10, said she felt very lucky to have the chance to handle a kiwi.

'It was a great experience and I want to do it again,' she said.

The birds were released into three areas about 2 kilometres apart to give them space but so they could still hear each other calling out.

DOC would monitor the birds using smart transmitters, which would give the department valuable information on their movements, ranger Iain Graham said.

They could tell the birds had eggs in their nests when they reduced their nighttime foraging. DOC then waited about 70 days before uplifting the eggs, he said.

The area would be controlled for pests.