Two North Island brown kiwi female go into Pukaha forest
Date: 05 June 2008
Two female North Island brown kiwi have been released into the Pukaha Mt Bruce forest, raising the kiwi population there to18.
It is hoped that Hera and Whiratea, adopted and named by pupils of Greytown School and Fairfield School in Levin, will produce chicks for the BNZ Operation Nest Egg programme for many years to come.
"We are committed to replenishing the forest with kiwi," says Department of Conservation Wairarapa area manager Chris Lester.
DOC ranger Darren Page introduces
pupils from Levin's Fairfield School
to their adopted kiwi Whiratea
"There have been some recent deaths (from ferret attacks) that we have learned from and now we need to get on with getting kiwi back into the forest. We have world-renowned pest control in and around the reserve. Breeding kiwi are essential to this project's success and more females are needed in the forest.
"It's a delicate balancing act and the deaths showed how vulnerable the birds are in the wild."
The Pukaha forest restoration partners, DOC, Greater Wellington and Horizon's regional councils, are committed to working together to ensure that the best efforts are made to ensure that the wildlife in the forest is well protected.
The forest is one of the last remnants of the once magnificent 70 mile bush, which stretched from Masterton to Norsewood, supporting thousands of native birds, insects and reptiles. A big effort is now underway to restore the native dawn chorus to the forest which, besides kiwi, includes other birds such as the kokako, kaka and morepork. ENDS