The arrival of the first kiwi chicks to be produced in the Pukaha Mount Bruce forest (in eastern Wairarapa) in more than a century looks imminent.

This is providing that two fertile eggs found recently in the forest can be successfully incubated by their fathers Manu Tapu and Mr Kiwi over the next month or so. The pair were among 10 captive-bred kiwi released into the 942 hectare Pukaha Mount Bruce forest over the past two years.

The first of the two fertile kiwi eggs, incubated by Mr Kiwi, was found by Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Tony Silbery on July 21 and the second was discovered in the nest of Manu Tapu in the second week of August. The first kiwi chick is expected to hatch between September 16 and 26 and the second approximately three weeks later.

The first fertile egg was one of two eggs discovered in a kiwi nest, just five metres off the main visitor walking track.

Mr Silbery said Mr Kiwi’s egg was "distinctly warmer to the touch" than an infertile egg also found in his nest and had a clearly visible small dark spot in the centre and a girdling of blood vessels just under the shell.

A visit in early August confirmed that the egg was fertile.

"The egg had obviously grown since our initial visit and we believe now that it is well past the halfway point in its incubation period," Mr Silbery said.

"It is a real credit to the persistence of the male, who has been at this nest since the end of May, firstly on two infertile eggs and finally on this one."

By the time this egg hatches Mr Kiwi will have spent nearly four months continuously sitting in the nest.

In contrast, the other nest yielded a fertile egg at the first attempt and Manu Tapu can look forward to the more normal 70 to 80 day incubation.

The kiwi pairs were introduced to each other well before their release into the Pukaha Mount Bruce forest, and their continued relationship does not appear to have been affected by their release into the wild. Mr Kiwi, transferred from Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch, was released into the Pukaha Mount Bruce forest in December 2003. His mate is a female kiwi, also from Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, released on the same day at Mr Kiwi.

Manu Tapu has also stayed with his mate Kopa Kopa from Otorohanga Kiwi House. Manu Tapu and Kopa Kopa were released into the Pukaha Mount Bruce forest on October 27, 2004.

The release of captive-reared kiwi into the southern North Island from where they became extinct well over 100 years ago, was a first in the history of New Zealand. The discovery of a kiwi egg just months after the release, though infertile, marked another first. The fact that there are now two pairs attempting to breed bodes well for the future of this ground breaking conservation effort.

The Pukaha Restoration Project is a co-operative venture between the Department of Conservation, the National Wildlife Centre Trust, Rangitaane O Wairarapa, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Horizons Regional Council.

The restoration project has been supported by the Bank of New Zealand Kiwi Recovery Trust, the Masterton and Tararua District councils, local media and a significant number of sponsors.

Masterton Mayor Bob Francis sees the news as a positive incentive to continue with the forest restoration fundraising effort. In late 2004, Mr Francis drove a successful fundraising campaign to raise money towards the ongoing restoration of the Pukaha Mount Bruce forest, culminating in an incredible $560,000 towards the Pukaha restoration project.

"It’s great to hear that the kiwi are breeding and that the programme is working well. I believe that we are moving towards something exciting."

National Wildlife Centre Trust chairperson, John Bunny said the imminent arrival of kiwi chicks was a "significant achievement" for Pukaha Mount Bruce.

"As with kaka and kokako before it, we have returned a species into an environment where it is completely at home. Our project of restoring the forest and the birds in it was the right decision, and we very pleased about that."

Department of Conservation area manager Derrick Field believes that wild kiwi have a promising future at Pukaha Mount Bruce.

"We are pleased to see that kiwi can adapt to a wild forest environment when transferred from captive breeding institutions. The Pukaha restoration project has proven that species can return to the mainland if pests are controlled at low levels."

Once hatched, these kiwi will be fitted with chick-sized transmitters and their progress in the first critical weeks and months of life will be monitored closely by their "adoptive" (DOC) parents.

Kiwi are most vulnerable to many introduced predators, but particularly stoats, during the first seven months of their lives. After they hatch, kiwi chicks spend up to three days consuming the yolk from their eggs to prepare them for their departure from the nest. After day three, kiwi leave the nest and they’re on their own in the world. Not surprisingly, the first few months of a young kiwi’s life are fraught with any number of natural problems as it fights to survive.

Recent human introductions such as stoats, cats and dogs have compounded the problem. Currently only 5 percent of all kiwi chicks hatched in the wild survive for longer than three months. This is not a high enough number of birds to sustain the population. Just 50,000 North Island brown kiwis remain, largely in the top two-thirds of the North Island, which classifies them as ‘nationally vulnerable.’ 

For more information, please contact:
Derrick Field on +64 6 377 0700