Click here to download a PDF format version of 'The Kiwi Advocate - Issue 7 - May 2006', or read the on-line version below.
ISSUE 7 - May 2006
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A Kiwi Helping to Save Kiwi – Todd Hamilton
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Since 2002, Todd Hamilton has been chief predator trapper for the Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum. It’s a job that takes him onto private land, working with farmers to place and operate traps, or doing the trapping himself with their permission. |
But it’s not just a job about killing things. Todd also holds a permit to handle kiwi and is in charge of the Forum’s Operation Nest Egg programme. When the chicks are big enough to come off predator-free Matakohe-Limestone Island in Whangarei Harbour, he releases them onto private land in the Whangarei Heads area and monitors their progress.
A typical day in the life of Todd Hamilton goes something like this…
“First thing, drop salted rabbit bait to one of the landowners for his stoat traps.
Next, check and re-bait a trap line on a local sheep and beef farm. Today we’ve only caught rats, hedgehogs and a couple of possums. Being a peninsula helps. After knocking down more than 60 stoats in our first season, we now trap re-invaders and their numbers are right down – but there are still too many to relax the predator control programme.
While on this farm, use telemetry gear to track the Operation Nest Egg kiwi released here. One is called Bacon and she’s due for a transmitter change before the batteries run out. Happily, the bird is in bush on Mt Manaia next to the farmland, which means I can drive up a 4 x 4 track, saving me a big climb. Trouble is, Bacon has other ideas. She is deep in a patch of kiekie (a sharp-leaved plant that looks like a cross between supplejack, pampus and a cabbage tree) and impossible to catch - no matter how careful I am she hears me coming and leads me around in a circle, keeping just out of sight and reach. I decide to leave her for another day and hope she moves to a less overgrown spot for our next encounter.
Another monitored kiwi further down the road is due for a check. He is easier to reach, in a patch of prickly gorse. With the farmer working nearby, I call him over and let him see one of the kiwi living on his farm – up close and personal. After checking the kiwi’s condition and his transmitter, we measure his bill and weight and release him back into the gorse bush. The farmer says he’s going to take a lot more care when controlling gorse from now on; he’s not going to burn it any more.”
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Oliver Young – the Trust’s latest Supporting Sponsor
The Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust is pleased to welcome innovative Auckland print and design company, Oliver Young, as a Supporting Sponsor. The sponsorship, which gives the Trust an annual $4000 rebate on printing jobs, and $5000 cash-in-hand over three years, is part of Oliver Young’s 23rd anniversary celebration, and a fitting way for the company to thank the community that has supported them for so long. You can find out more about Oliver Young at www.oliveryoung.co.nz.
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Calling all Kiwi Groups - Funding Applications Due by 12 May
The deadline for kiwi groups seeking Trust funding for the 2006/2007 year is 12 May. Information and application forms are on the website at http://www.savethekiwi.org.nz.
The Trust’s efforts to raise awareness about kiwi is paying off – each year brings increased donations from the public and Bank of New Zealand customers. Last year more than NZ$550,000 was allocated to 32 kiwi projects. This is 10% more than the allocation in 2004/2005, and more than triple the $142,972 the Trust could provide in 2003/2004.
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Hui Highlights
Kiwi workers at a recent practitioners’ hui gave themselves a deserved pat on the back. The get-together in New Plymouth in April was a chance for more than 140 people who devote their lives to kiwi to celebrate that, thanks to their work, the birds are recovering and increasing in most managed areas. Not only that, but the number of community groups helping to save kiwi is growing rapidly and their combined efforts now protect kiwi on nearly the same amount of land as covered by the Department of Conservation’s kiwi programmes.
The hui, an annual event, is a chance to share information about the best ways to control predators, get funding, and overcome obstacles (among other things). Practitioners also learn about the latest technology and research – investigating the use of leg bands versus transponder chips; the “egg timer” which can calculate the age of a live egg; what the arrival of bird flu’ would mean for kiwi (the plan is to immunise all captive and monitored kiwi); and the results of ongoing genetic studies.
Also on the agenda was the new 10-year Kiwi Recovery strategy which will be released for public input in June or July, and finalised before the end of the year.
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Bring Us your Berries
Berries and insects are urgently needed for research. A project funded by Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust is developing a near-natural diet for captive kiwi – something that is becoming increasingly important with Operation Nest Egg’s success. Researchers want to feed captive kiwi with food they would find and eat in the wild. After 10 days they will analyse what was absorbed and used by the birds to develop a wholesome captive diet. If you, your local school or someone you know could help, please contact savethekiwitrust@bnz.co.nz.
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Kapiti Island Capers
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In March, the Trust hosted a trip to Kapiti Island Nature Reserve as a hands-on thank you to its supporters and sponsors.
While the group met kaka, takahe, hihi, saddleback, kereru and weka, the highlight of the day was meeting two little spotted kiwi. |
Dr Hugh Robertson, the Department of Conservation’s co-ordinator of kiwi research and monitoring, gave the pair a health check – recording their weight, the condition of their feathers and measuring their beaks.
Because Kapiti Island has no predators, little spotted kiwi and other native birds, have flourished. There are now more than 1300 little spotted kiwi thought to be on the island.
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Kiwi EFTPOS cards available on line
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Save the Kiwi EFTPOS cards can now be ordered online at www.bnz.co.nz/savekiwi. Every Kiwi EFTPOS card delivers a NZ$10 donation to the Trust every year that the card is held. |
The whole of this money goes directly to the Trust to be allocated to kiwi conservation work – the Bank does not deduct any administration costs. Look for in-branch posters at Bank of New Zealand branches.
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Kiwi Forever
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Kiwi Forever – Kiwi Mo Ake Tonu Atu – an innovative education resource kit created by the Trust – is hugely popular. More than 800 kits have been sent out since its launch last November, and requests aren’t slowing down. |
In fact, the kit’s appeal reaches far beyond New Zealand’s shores. A Californian kindergarten class learnt all about kiwi from Justin Thomas, a five-year-old classmate with ex-pat Kiwi parents. Justin fell in love with kiwi during his family’s visit “home” last Christmas. With the aid of a Kiwi Forever kit, he impressed his kindy playmates with a presentation and topped it all off by handing out "Kiwi Forever" stickers.
You can learn more about "Kiwi Forever", and teachers can order a free copy of the kit, on our website: http://www.savethekiwi.org.nz. You’ll find it in the Kiwi Classroom.
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Operation Nest Egg
It’s been a good season for Operation Nest Egg. By the end of March, 142 young kiwi were well on the way to reaching the magic one-kilogram weight that will allow them to better defend themselves against stoats. This brings the total of chicks successfully hatched since the programme began in 1994 to more than 700.
The juvenile kiwi have come from eggs or chicks gathered from the wild and sent to one of five captive management facilities - Westshore Wildlife Reserve, Kiwi Encounter at Rainbow Springs, Auckland Zoo, the Otorohonga Kiwi House and the Pukaha Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre.
To find out more about Operation Nest Egg, visit http://www.savethekiwi.org.nz.
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Competition for Kids
In March 2005, to celebrate its 75th anniversary, Kiwi Bacon signed a three-year sponsorship deal with the Bank of New Zealand save the Kiwi Trust. Under the deal, Kiwi Bacon donates $50,000 to the Trust for each of the three years to 2008, in exchange for the right to cite the Trust’s logo during relevant campaigns and promotions.
The birthday celebrations kicked off with the release of an Operation Nest Egg juvenile, “Bacon”, into the Whangarei Heads kiwi sanctuary. This year, Kiwi Bacon is developing a children’s website with information about Bacon the kiwi. One of the first activities is a children’s competition to design a new product label showing Bacon the kiwi. To register interest and find out more about this Operation Nest Egg chick, visit http://www.baconthekiwi.co.nz/. The competition begins on 29 May.
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Upcoming Event
What: Name change to Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust.
Last year, Bank of New Zealand conducted customer research to gather a few facts about kiwi and peoples’ attitude toward them. Specifically, they wanted to determine what “kiwi” meant to New Zealanders and what their level of awareness and concern for the plight of kiwi was.
Amongst the information gathered, one thing stood out glaringly: the name ‘Bank of New Zealand Kiwi Recovery Trust’ does not accurately convey the urgency or goal of what we are trying to achieve. There was some confusion over the “Kiwi Recovery” portion of the name, with some people thinking it was about debt consolidation and we had one person who thought it was about recovering alcoholics in New Zealand!
Armed with that knowledge, we put forth the idea of changing the name of the Trust. We tested the proposed new name and received resounding praise for it. The decision was made to implement the name change to Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust.
Why: To better reflect the mission and objectives of the Trust: to save the kiwi!
When: 12 May 2006 the new name will officially be implemented
Where: new web address as of 12 May will be www.savethekiwi.org.nz
Who: Contact the executive director of the Trust for any questions savethekiwitrust@bnz.co.nz
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Upcoming Event
What: Vitual Field Trip
LEARNZ is offering teachers and pupils the opportunity to join a virtual field trip to learn about Operation Nest Egg and watch as a kiwi egg is gathered from a wild nest, incubated, hatched, reared and released back into the wild when the chick is large enough to better defend itself.
Why: Supplement information in the Kiwi Forever education kit and other classroom resources
When: 12 – 15 September 2006
Where: A classroom close to you
Who: Go to http://www.learnz.org.nz/ to register your class.
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Did You Know?
The Bank of New Zealand Kiwi Save the Trust website has more than 30,000 visitors each month, from all over the world.
Did You Know?
The second ever kiwi to be hatched in the United States of America poked her beak into the big wide world in February. The brown kiwi hatched at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Washington D.C. Senior bird keeper, Kathy Brader, says the young bird, called Manaia, is very curious and has a great personality.
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park first exhibited kiwi 100 years ago, the first zoo in the United States of America to do so. It has had brown kiwi on permanent display since 1968 – the first pair, from Mt Bruce, was a gift from the New Zealand government.
Kathy visited New Zealand last year, spending time at Auckland Zoo, Rainbow Springs, Westshore Reserve and Otorohanga Kiwi House, and with Department of Conservation staff learning about kiwi incubation and rearing. “I can’t begin to tell you how much help what I learnt has been. I never dreamed that we would have our own kiwi chick so soon.
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