The discovery of a kiwi egg, albeit a dead one, in the Pukaha/Mount Bruce forest bodes well for the future of the introduced kiwi population says the Department of Conservation.

The egg was discovered in a burrow, high on a ridge above the National Wildlife Centre during routine monitoring last week. It was later found that the male had stopped incubating the egg and it was buried under the nest.

DOC technical support officer Lynn Adams said she was excited to discover the egg just seven months after six kiwi from the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch were released into the forest.

The release of captive-reared kiwi into the mainland from where they became extinct over 100 years ago, was a first in the history of New Zealand. The discovery of a kiwi egg so soon after the release marks another first in the history of New Zealand conservation.

The egg will be sent off to Massey University to determine whether it was fertile at the time it was laid and how old it is.

DOC Wairarapa area manager Derrick Field said Pukaha Mount Bruce was leading mainland forest restoration in New Zealand, proving that species could return to the mainland if pests were controlled at certain levels.

“Despite that fact that this egg is dead, its discovery gives us confidence to continue with further releases and we look forward to establishing a thriving kiwi population back at Pukaha Mount Bruce.”

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, and has also seen kaka and kokako successfully reintroduced into the forest.

The restoration project is 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, a staunch supporter of the Pukaha restoration project said while it was disappointing that the egg is dead, it was great to hear that they were breeding and that the programme was working well.

“I believe that we are moving towards something exciting. The real effort needed now is to get the wider community involved and we are heading down that track.”

National Wildlife Centre Trust Chairperson, John Bunny described the discovery of the egg as a significant achievement for Pukaha/Mount Bruce.

“As with kaka and kokako before it, we have returned a species into an environment that it is completely at home in. Obviously we are disappointed that a chick won’t result from this egg, but to get such a result in their first breeding cycle means that our project of restoring the forest and the birds in it was the right decision, and we very pleased about that.”

Like the kiwi, introduced kokako also started breeding within months of their release, producing chicks in January this year.

Kiwi are most vulnerable to introduced predators, 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 are 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.’

To prepare the forest for the arrival of kiwi chicks, Pukaha has been the focus of an intensive pest control project involving hundreds of traps and bait stations since May 2002. Pukaha team supervisor Trevor Thompson said the team had persisted with trapping through an unusually cold and wet winter to maintain pest numbers at low levels.

“The discovery of a kiwi egg is very inspiring at this time and reinforces the value and importance of this work.”

For more information, please contact:
Derrick Field or Sally Thomas on (06) 377 0700

Mount Bruce website: www.mtbruce.govt.nz