The kiwi chick produced at Rimutaka Forest Park in February has been named by the volunteer trappers ... and his father found after a two month disappearance.

When ideas were called for a dozen names were put forward, and at a social gathering last week, Maataamua was chosen as the chick's name. Maataamua means “first born” in Maori.

Rimutaka Forest Park Trust president Bill McCabe says the name is very appropriate, and offers promise of future breeding successes.

Maataamua will be released in the park when his weight reaches 1.2kg and he is capable of fighting off any stoat attack. He is currently approaching 700gm, in the care of Pukaha Mount Bruce captive breeding staff. 

Meanwhile, the chick's father Waikiwianui, who parted company with his tracking transmitter two months ago, has been found with the help of a trained kiwi tracking dog.

Waikiwianui’s transmitter was found on the ground soon after his egg was taken from his burrow to be incubated and hatched at the Department of Conservation Mt Bruce Wildlife Reserve. Without the transmitter attached to his leg, an extensive ground search was needed to check his wellbeing, and the best efforts of volunteers over two months proved fruitless.

James Fraser and his dog Percy were called in to locate the missing kiwi. Accompanied by three volunteers, Percy searched within 40m of his handler, repeatedly criss-crossing an area near the home range of Waikiwianu and his mate Manaia, and where he had dropped his transmitter two months earlier.

The first day’s search was unsuccessful, but early on the second day of searching, Percy’s sense of smell led James and the volunteers to finding Waikiwianui roosting alone in a burrow under an old fallen stump.

“We did a little dance and took some photos of James proudly holding the kiwi,” says Susan Ellis, the trust's kiwi project operations manager.

After fitting him with a new transmitter, they decided to track Waikiwianui’s mate Manaia. She was found sharing a burrow with younger and smaller male Lorenzo.

“Maybe this was a secret tryst,” says Susan Ellis. “We hadn’t picked up his signal, presumably because he was buried beneath the bulk of Manaia.”

Finding the kiwi gave the volunteers the opportunity to learn the skills of kiwi handling and weighing, and fitting transmitters on the birds.

“All are in good health, and it was a successful couple of days,” says Susan Ellis