First rowi chick of the season

The West Coast Wildlife Centre’s first kiwi chick of the season, hatched yesterday at 7.42 am.

Health checks by centre staff confirm that the chick is “beautiful, chatty and wiggly”.

“We are caring for seven precious kiwi eggs at the West Coast Wildlife Centre from, critically endangered, rowi and Haast tokoeka,” says Centre Manager Lisa Stevenson.

“The public can see the young chick for themselves at the centre over the next few weeks as part of our Backstage Pass Tour.”

New Zealand’s rarest kiwi species, rowi, is making a solid recovery thanks to a partnership between the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust.

Born as part of BNZ Operation Nest Egg, the chick will be at the West Coast Wildlife Centre until three to four weeks of age. It will then be transferred to Motuara Island, a predator-free kiwi crèche in the Marlborough Sounds. Once it is over 1 kg – large enough to protect itself against stoats – the young kiwi will be returned to join the last natural population of rowi in Ōkārito Kiwi Zone in South Westland.

A 1080 operation in Ōkārito forest, designed to protect rowi chicks in their natural habitat, will allow DOC rangers to leave half of this year’s chicks to hatch in the wild without human intervention for the first time since 1998. Without the use of 1080 or BNZ Operation Nest Egg, 95 % of rowi chicks die before their first birthday.

ENDS

Contacts:
Lizzy Sutcliffe, DOC media liaison: (03) 371 3742 / 02102912761
Lisa Stevenson, West Coast Wildlife Centre Manager: (03) 752 0600
Michelle Impey, BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust: (09) 375 1084 / 029 478 4610

Background:

The West Coast Wildlife Centre at Franz Josef, is home to the incubation and captive rearing programme for New Zealand’s rarest kiwi, the rowi and Haast tokoeka. The $2.5 million indoor attraction, which is privately owned by the same team that operates Christchurch’s International Antarctic Centre, includes a natural forest walkthrough and kiwi viewing area, hands-on interactive activities and wildlife films. www.wildkiwi.co.nz

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust was established in November 2002 by Bank of New Zealand and the Department of Conservation, building on a sponsorship relationship that started in 1991. BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust is responsible for public awareness and education, fundraising, sponsorship and grant allocations for kiwi recovery nationally. In 2011 alone, more than $700,000 was allocated to community and DOC kiwi projects. More than $6 million has been granted for kiwi work in total. This money came from BNZ, its staff, customers and supporters of BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust. www.savethekiwi.org.nz

BNZ Operation Nest Egg™ is a powerful tool to reverse the decline of key kiwi populations. Eggs and chicks are harvested from nests to save them from stoats and cats. The young kiwi are returned to the wild when they weight about 1kg, big enough to fight off these predators. More than 1600 kiwi chicks have been returned to the wild since the programme began in 1994, with captive facilities and hundreds of field workers from DOC and community groups throughout the country contributing to its success. The BNZ Operation Nest Egg™ egg harvesting>chick rearing>return to the wild technique was developed for kiwi through research funded solely by Bank of New Zealand and is now also used in other species recovery programmes.